The Atlanta Falcons have produced the biggest draft day shock in many years by selecting QB Michael Penix Jr with the 8th overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Just weeks after signing QB Kirk Cousins to a 4-year $180-million deal, with $100-million guaranteed, the Falcons have drafted their QB of the future.
General Manager Terry Fontenot was pretty laid back about the decision, “If you believe in a quarterback, you have to take him,” Fontenot said. “And if he sits for four or five years, that’s a great problem to have because we’re doing so well at that position. So, it’s as simple as, if you see a guy you believe in at that position, you have to take him.”
Falcons are ruffling their own feathers
Cousins was said to be “shocked” and “disappointed” by the move and his agent took to NFL Network to say, “We had no idea this was coming. The truth is the whole league had no idea this was coming. We got no heads up. Kirk got a call from the Falcons when they were on the clock. That was the first we heard. It never came up in any conversation.”
Penix Jr was a 6-year player in college, thanks in no small part to the covid-19 pandemic. He threw for 4,906 yards and 36 touchdowns in his final season with the Huskies. Penix will be 24 when the NFL preseason begins.
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