Falcons send contingent to scout Penix

[Mistashoesta]

So long as he doesn't end up with the Rams

 

[Threedee]

Penix Penix Penix Vajayjay

Well, they got the scoop on this story.

 

[TwistedHusky]

Yep.
Probably wise. People talk they paid Cousins all this money but honestly, Cousins isn't winning anything. He won't win big games. He isn't really a playoff threat.

Kirk is a good QB that isn't great. Serviceable, able to win games in the regular season. But not a guy that will carry a team in the playoffs or even in the regular season. Not a difference maker, just an expensive need to have because 'if you don't have a QB, you don't have a chance'.
But nothing you buy playoff tickets because of. Notice Vikings fans aren't that bothered with losing him. Because Kirk doesn't carry teams.

You want to win in the playoffs, you get someone who carries teams. Penix has shown he carries teams. Even if the comp for Penix is Cousins/Carr, the difference is that Penix makes the throws he has to have...Cousins doesn't. So Atlanta probably had to pull the trigger.

At least 4 teams were likely trying to get Penix if the Falcons try to wait until the 2nd, or even trade down to the 20s.

 

[Scout]

They don't trust Cousins which I agree with. What I don't agree with is handing Cousins all that money and also passing on some serious defensive talent on the board.

The Falcons will need to fortify that OL when Penix steps into the lineup sooner or later. Because in the NFCS Evero, Bowles and Allen will send pressure anywhere and everywhere.

 

[TwistedHusky]

The owner probably forced them to get Cousins so they had a QB to sell to the fans. But that guy is a 12 year vet with ONE playoff win.
He won't get another....no matter who you draft.
(That Vikings team was stacked. The weak link was Cousins)
Not trusting Cousins made sense.

 

[BirdsCommaAngry]

Maybe they figure they won't be drafting this high while Cousins is there and they liked how Jordan Love turned out with so much time behind Rodgers. This was their best chance to draft a QBOTF so they took it now.

 

[Jegpeg]

What I can't understand is Cousins contract, he has $100m guaranteed that is an awful lot if they pan to start Penix in 2025. The dead cap will significantly reduce the strength of the team overall. If they don't think he will be better than Cousins until 2026 they only get 2 years on his rookie contract after that they lose the benefit of having a rookie QB.

If they were planning on getting Penix I would have thought they would sight Cousins on a 1 year contract or at least 2/3 year contract with much lower guarantees so cutting him at the end of this season isn't so painful.

 

[Seahawks Guy]

Are they maybe gonna trade Penix?

 

[Jegpeg]

Are they maybe gonna trade Penix?

Could happen if while Cousins back-up the Falcons realise he is not their QBOTF but does well enough to have some trade value.
Basically Penix is a Jimmy G / Trey Lance.

 

[TheLegendOfBoom]

Atlanta is a train wreck.

If they wanted Penix all along, why pay Cousins a crap ton of money???

And Cousins is already “old” by standards and isn’t and has not ever been “elite.”

It was a waste to pay Cousins and it’s a waste to sit Penix behind Cousins in a sense.

 

[Hawkinaz]

I could see Atlanta wanting to draft Penix for the future but if that is the plan you don’t sign Cousins for $100 million guaranteed you sign either Sam Darnold or Gardner Minshew short term especially with the holes Atlanta has. The Falcons are a rudderless ship I expect the GM to be fired before Penix is the starter

 

[TheLegendOfBoom]

I could see Atlanta wanting to draft Penix for the future but if that is the plan you don’t sign Cousins for $100 million guaranteed you sign either Sam Darnold or Gardner Minshew short term espe with the holes Atlanta has. The Falcons are a rudderless ship I expect the GM to be fired before Penix is the starter

Arthur Blank was shown talking to the GM immediately after they drafted Penix.

Firing the GM right then and there would have been completely justified…

 

[projectorfreak]

Total crapshow unless they extend /see everything they want in penix early and he pans out
Either way it really , really , really seems as if they had no plan until they made some bad moves and came up with something on the fly which , ya know , if your AZ , well , that just might be how things get run
Hopefully az won't all of a sudden be really good next year but somehow , I don't think so
Go Hawks

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Damn good player, but still a very strange pick when they just gave a buttload of guaranteed money to Cousins.

 

[Ozzy]

I think the idea that Penix would be there for sure is false. The media had Penix much lower than NFL teams did. I'm sure Atlanta now wished they hadn't signed Cousins but after sitting on this for a few days I still think its the right call if you think Penix is the next Mahomes or elite NFL franchise kind of guy. In 5 years if Penix is elite the team won't care about the sunk cost of Cousins. The position is so valuable and they play for so long that if you have that guy in the draft you take him. Seattle was prepared to take Mahomes when they had Wilson in his prime as well. They're paying less for the position than a lot of other teams and may not pick that high for a long time. I like the move even if signing Cousins in hindsight was a bad idea.

 

[Hawkinaz]

The funny part is the video in the Falcons war room of the GM trying to explain to the owner that they are drafting a QB after signing Cousins to $100 million guaranteed

 

[chris98251]

Well at the end of the season if that GM is still employed we will know how it really was thought of by ownership.

 

[BASF]

Arthur is eighty-one years old. Picking for the future may not have been high on his agenda, but it was best for the franchise. Besides, Cousins is thirty-five coming off a major injury. Only the Falcons know if he will be game ready week one.

 

[hawkfan68]

The funny part is the video in the Falcons war room of the GM trying to explain to the owner that they are drafting a QB after signing Cousins to $100 million guaranteed

Their QB situation is also dependent on Kirk Cousins' recovery from the Achilles injury he suffered last season. He may not be ready to go. Plus they traded Desmond Ridder to the Cards this offseason (in March).