The Atlanta Falcons surprised a lot of people last Thursday night by selecting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick. The Falcons signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract in free agency to be the team’s starting quarterback, so why did Atlanta have their eyes set on Penix?
NFL Insider Brian Baldinger of the Audacy Sports Podcast “The Best Football Show” explained why the Falcons were set on selecting Penix in the first round of the NFL Draft.
“I had a premonition on April 11th that the Falcons were going to take Michael Penix. I didn’t know it was actually going to be at pick eight, I thought they might trade out of the pick and take Penix, but I knew they liked Penix,” Baldinger said. “And it wasn’t a waste of money to Kirk Cousins. They wanted Kirk Cousins to come start and help them win a division.”
While the 35-year-old Cousins is the quarterback in the short term, the Falcons wanted someone that could be in Atlanta for the long haul.
“I’ve known Arthur Blank a long time. I did the Falcons preseason games for years. I’ve been in his office. He’s called me about a number of different things over the years, and I just know how Arthur thinks,” Baldinger continued. “There was Michael Vick at one point and he was the franchise quarterback. And they had a great run with Michael Vick and they went to the NFL Championship Game, couldn’t win it.
“And then in 2008 they took Matt Ryan to go with Mike Smith, and they had a great decade with Matt Ryan. They went to a Super Bowl, Matt Ryan was the MVP of the league, they were highly competitive, they got him Julio Jones, they built an offensive line and they had a great run.”
Once Blank and the Falcons got eyes on Penix Jr., they had him penciled in as the quarterback of the future.
“So Arthur Blank and his group, they went and watched Michael Penix Jr. work out and that was it. They were convinced that this guy could be a Mike Vick, could be a Matt Ryan, could be a guy that could get them to the playoffs annually,” Baldinger concluded. “Could they do enough around him to win a Super Bowl the way Kansas City has? Who knows. But they were not coming out of this draft without taking Penix.”
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