This was printed in The Athletic about the Falcons as said by NFL execs around the league. It’s truly priceless.
Poor Michael Penix Jr. The former University of Washington quarterback should be basking in his selection as the eighth player chosen in the draft. Instead, legions are wondering how the Falcons could have selected a quarterback so early just six weeks after signing veteran Kirk Cousins to a $180 million deal.
“How you could go through free agency and think to yourself, ‘Penix is our guy, but let’s give $100 million to Kirk Cousins just in case Penix doesn’t fall to us at 8’?” an exec said. “Come on, man.”
Consternation over the Falcons trading up in the second round for defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro when, as one exec put it, “they had the guy from Illinois (Johnny Newton), who is a perfect fit for Raheem Morris’ defense as a three-technique, sitting on the board,” could not compare to the furor over the Cousins/Penix decision.
“There’s only one thing I could think of that would allow them to do that, and is that something happened in Kirk’s rehab (from a torn Achilles tendon) between when he signed and draft day that made them feel like, ‘Oh my God, we might not have him for more than a year,'” another exec said.
There’s no indication that happened.
“People say they can get out of Kirk’s deal after two years, which is basically saying, ‘Well, we expect him to fail, so we can get rid of the contract after ’25, but you don’t get to think that way when you’re putting $100 million into Kirk Cousins,” the exec added.
Attempts to find execs supporting the move proved futile.
“What if you are in minicamp and Cousins isn’t even taking snaps and you are like, ‘Oh my God, let’s go with Michael Penix,'” another exec said. “Because remember, moving Cousins is much more difficult than it would be to move Penix. You could be stuck with Cousins when you know Penix is the guy.”
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Other execs noted that current Falcons director of player personnel Ryan Pace was the Bears’ GM in 2017 when the team signed quarterback Mike Glennonto a surprisingly expensive deal six weeks before Chicago traded from No. 3 to No. 2 for quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Glennon earned $18.5 million for four starts. Cousins’ deal guarantees him $90 million over the next two seasons.
“I really like Penix, but if you are going to draft him, why would you not have taken Justin Fields from Chicago or signed Russell Wilson and then drafted Penix?” an exec said. “No one would fault you for that. They would have been much better off with money invested elsewhere. And the thing about Penix is, he is ready to play now. He is not the rookie QB that needs to wait.”
The biggest surprise of Round 1, Michael Penix Jr. will now wait his turn behind Kirk Cousins. (Dale Zanine / USA Today)
Execs tied the Penix decision to other questionable top-10 draft moves under GM Terry Fontenot, led by drafting tight end Kyle Pitts at No. 4 in 2021.
“Remember, the reason they went with Raheem Morris instead of Bill Belichick (as head coach) was because he would not push back against the front office,” another exec said. “The two teams that rejected Belichick did the opposite of what Bill would have done, and that includes New England drafting Drake Maye.”
Execs rejected the thinking that Atlanta needed to snag a quarterback of the future now because the team could be picking much later in 2025.
“I’d love to know what the conversations were in Atlanta leading up to that and why there was no adult supervision,” a former GM said. “Truth be told, they could be good next year with Kirk Cousins, come away with the 25th or 26th pick, and then you take a quarterback in that range. That is what Green Bay did with Jordan Love, and it is fundamentally different from what Atlanta just did.”
Poor Michael Penix Jr. The former University of Washington quarterback should be basking in his selection as the eighth player chosen in the draft. Instead, legions are wondering how the Falcons could have selected a quarterback so early just six weeks after signing veteran Kirk Cousins to a $180 million deal.
“How you could go through free agency and think to yourself, ‘Penix is our guy, but let’s give $100 million to Kirk Cousins just in case Penix doesn’t fall to us at 8’?” an exec said. “Come on, man.”
Consternation over the Falcons trading up in the second round for defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro when, as one exec put it, “they had the guy from Illinois (Johnny Newton), who is a perfect fit for Raheem Morris’ defense as a three-technique, sitting on the board,” could not compare to the furor over the Cousins/Penix decision.
“There’s only one thing I could think of that would allow them to do that, and is that something happened in Kirk’s rehab (from a torn Achilles tendon) between when he signed and draft day that made them feel like, ‘Oh my God, we might not have him for more than a year,'” another exec said.
There’s no indication that happened.
“People say they can get out of Kirk’s deal after two years, which is basically saying, ‘Well, we expect him to fail, so we can get rid of the contract after ’25, but you don’t get to think that way when you’re putting $100 million into Kirk Cousins,” the exec added.
Attempts to find execs supporting the move proved futile.
“What if you are in minicamp and Cousins isn’t even taking snaps and you are like, ‘Oh my God, let’s go with Michael Penix,'” another exec said. “Because remember, moving Cousins is much more difficult than it would be to move Penix. You could be stuck with Cousins when you know Penix is the guy.”
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Other execs noted that current Falcons director of player personnel Ryan Pace was the Bears’ GM in 2017 when the team signed quarterback Mike Glennonto a surprisingly expensive deal six weeks before Chicago traded from No. 3 to No. 2 for quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Glennon earned $18.5 million for four starts. Cousins’ deal guarantees him $90 million over the next two seasons.
“I really like Penix, but if you are going to draft him, why would you not have taken Justin Fields from Chicago or signed Russell Wilson and then drafted Penix?” an exec said. “No one would fault you for that. They would have been much better off with money invested elsewhere. And the thing about Penix is, he is ready to play now. He is not the rookie QB that needs to wait.”
The biggest surprise of Round 1, Michael Penix Jr. will now wait his turn behind Kirk Cousins. (Dale Zanine / USA Today)
Execs tied the Penix decision to other questionable top-10 draft moves under GM Terry Fontenot, led by drafting tight end Kyle Pitts at No. 4 in 2021.
“Remember, the reason they went with Raheem Morris instead of Bill Belichick (as head coach) was because he would not push back against the front office,” another exec said. “The two teams that rejected Belichick did the opposite of what Bill would have done, and that includes New England drafting Drake Maye.”
Execs rejected the thinking that Atlanta needed to snag a quarterback of the future now because the team could be picking much later in 2025.
“I’d love to know what the conversations were in Atlanta leading up to that and why there was no adult supervision,” a former GM said. “Truth be told, they could be good next year with Kirk Cousins, come away with the 25th or 26th pick, and then you take a quarterback in that range. That is what Green Bay did with Jordan Love, and it is fundamentally different from what Atlanta just did.”
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