The most shocking moment of a night in the 2024 NFL Draft came when the Atlanta Falcons, who had just acquired the sensational Kirk Cousins for a four-year, $180 million contract containing $90 million fully guaranteed, selected University of Washington quarterback Michael Penix. Jr. with...the No. 8 overall pick. There's been a lot of smoke recently surrounding Penix coming off the board in the top half of the first round, and even some reportedly landing in Atlanta, but the latter seemed like too bizarre an outcome to happen.
Unfortunately, it happened. During the draft broadcast, cameras appeared to film general manager Terry Fontenot explaining the selection to owner Arthur Blank.
During his post-draft press conference, Fontenot made that clear to the media and Falcons fans.
“If you believe in a quarterback, take him,” Fontenot said. "And if he sits for four or five years, that's a big deal because we do well at that position. So, it's simple, if you see a guy you believe in at that position, you take."
He will also have to explain it to Cousins, who apparently was not alerted to the selection and was "shocked" and "disappointed". His agent told NFL Network: "We had no idea this was going to happen. The truth is the entire league had no idea this was going to happen. We didn't get any alert. Kirk got a call of the Falcons while on the clock It was the first time: “What we heard was not mentioned in any conversation.”
According to ESPN, the Falcons "had an opinion on Penix through and through" and sent eight coaches and front office officials to Seattle to hold a meeting with him after his pro day. The unit included Fontenot, assistant general manager Kyle Smith, head coach Raheem Morris, offensive coordinator Zach Robinson and quarterbacks coach T.J. Yeah.
If that's the case, it's especially odd that they signed Cousins to such a huge deal and didn't let him know they were considering moving in that direction. Fontenot's assertion that it's a good problem if your highly determined QB has to sit four or five years behind a veteran falls apart when you realize the quarterback in question will be 29 by the time his contract rookie will expire, and he will have to... The team will then have to pay him to stay without seeing him on the field until then. The system he drafted may not be in place by then, considering the Falcons are 21-30 with three straight 7-10 seasons under Fontenot.
Atlanta clearly has its own choice, and if Cousins plays well for a few years then retires and Penix then becomes a star, maybe the Falcons will look back and laugh at all the people who doubted their plan. But right now, it's definitely not a good process to approach things this way, and anyone considering it in the future should at least realize that.