Kirk Cousins was signed over the offseason to take over the Falcons' quarterback position. The $180 million man was signed to bring some much-needed security to a team that had been yearning for it since moving on from Matt Ryan in 2021. Although he was coming off an Achilles injury that sidelined him for the second half of the 2023 season, the plan made sense.
What came next was not quite as expected.
To the surprise of 31 other teams and everyone watching, the Atlanta Falcons selected Michael Penix with their eighth overall pick in Thursday's first round of the NFL Draft. Everyone across the football world was stunned, including their starting quarterback.
Several outlets reported that Cousins was blindsided by the decision to take a quarterback at eight, and that's when the firestorm took off.
"You just paid [Kirk Cousins] all this money and convinced us, convinced him, convinced his family, convinced the fan base [that] we're in win now mode," Drew Butler said about the shock of taking the pick on Friday morning. "We assumed that you were going to get us pieces, whether it be on the offensive side of the ball or the defensive side of the ball, to supplement paying $100 million over two years to [Cousins]!"
"There's inherent frustration from Cousins' camp," tweeted ESPN's Pete Thamel. "As they didn't use that pick to help the team in 2024. They instead drafted his eventual replacement before he's put on a Falcons helmet."
"If you wanted to take a quarterback? I'll give you a quarterback take," Steak said about what other options could've included. "Take Michael Pratt. He's a nice little second or third-round gamble. If things go wrong with Kirk Cousins, then you've got a great young quarterback and a possible mentor. If there's an injury we have a guy that can be serviceable and maybe down the line [do something more]."
Penix, 24, threw for 4,903 yards and 36 touchdowns for a Washington Huskies team that played in the national title game last season. The 2023 Heisman finalist became only the second player since 2015 to throw for 4,500 or more yards in consecutive seasons since Patrick Mahomes.
No one is questioning the arm talent of the player, but the surprise of draft night will certainly be leaving fans scratching their heads for the months to come.
