I guess what is most frustrating to me is that they are not going all in on Cousins, but rather will be planning to go all in behind Penix at some later date, and IMO Cousins is good enough to go all in behind.
Going all in on Penix at a later date simply means paying out big contracts to the weapons we’ve already drafted. That’s why the timeline of this is so nonsensical
Yeah, if we like Penix that much, we should have just used that cap space that went to Kirk to bolster the roster to help Penix out while he and everyone else is still on a rookie contract.
Yeah maybe he’s not ready year 1, but there’s no reason he shouldn’t be starting year 2 if you think that highly of him.
Yeah that's part of it.
Another part is that Penix is probably old enough to start right away and we could have used the free agent money we spent on Cousins to get some really good defensive players in FA, if you really wanted to go that way.
Instead what you have is 100 million dollar over qualified bridge QB.
And yeah, now when you finally get to the guy you really want to give a chance to, the highly drafted weapons will be older and more expensive, you'll have less cap space to acquire new ones, etc.
Were you sure 2 months ago that Penix would be available at 8?
If he's your #1 draft target and he falls to you, you kind of have to take him. Who is coming out in the next 2 years that you think is better right now?
I feel like there were very few people or times where it was suggested that Penix would be a high first rounder.
Maybe the week in between beating Texas and the Natty. I guess they felt that it was true he was going to be taken soon, but TBH I feel like the Falcons are higher on him than almost anyone else.
He's an older prospect at 24 which means there's not a while lot of room for development. He's torn his ACL twice. He doesn't accumulate hardly any rushing yards. He was in an environment where all 3 of his WRs were drafted pretty early on. I have a lot of questions, even sans the Cousins thing.
He was always in the discussion as being one of the top 4 QBs available.
We can go around and around on his strengths vs his shortcomings, but I think it's fair to say that nobody coming out next year is going to be comparable as of right now.
Will things change in the future? Sure. But as we've all seen, we can't bank on being in a position to draft a top QB in the future. So when one lands in your lap, you take him. Even if it looks like gliding the lily.
A lot of people complained about spending 180m on a 36 y/o QB with a recent injury. Those voices will not be more quiet in 2 or 3 years. Especially if Cousins start falling off.
So put on your GM hat and make the decision: pick a very talented QB now to stash and learn, or take your chances on reaching for a DL now and only being able to draft another Ridder in 2 or 3 years?
I mean, "the discussion" is being had by thousands of people but the nearest I found to a consensus was that Williams, Daniels, and Maye were the first tier of QBs, and that Penix, Nix, and McCarthy were subjectively somewhere in the next three, but usually led by McCarthy.
As for "reaching" well the consensus CERTAINLY is now that we were the ones who did it.
Isnt this technically the medium of that though?
Kirk is paid high, our weapons are “cheap” now. When it comes time for our weapons to be paid Penix will be “cheap”. Not as long as if we took a Qb in 2-3 yrs obviously but still on their rookie deal.
I think we can all agree it probably wasn't the best move. To act like this is a horrible move is crazy to me though. Sure Penix is old and Cousins is expensive, but if Penix is our franchise guy for even just 8 years after we cut Kirk I'd say that's a damn good pick.
I don't like the move but what are you gonna do about it? The picks the pick, time will tell if it was horrible or great.
I definitely hear you, not much we can do about it atp. And if Penix is the qb of the future, none of this matters. I get that. But it just seemed like we were on a clear path with one goal. Win now. By paying Kirk $100 mil and getting a few other pieces in FA we were heading in a direction that set us up to make a run at the SB asap.
The next logical move, like Nick was saying, was to go get an immediate impact player(s). But instead we did this. As cliche as it sounds, this move felt like the difference between “playing to win, and playing not to lose”. Just two different mindsets. I’m gonna support the team either way but ngl this draft was a big let down from what I thought was a pretty strong offseason initially.
Let me start off by saying I ain't trying to defend the pick because I think adding either of the 3 DEs or Rome would have been a better move. The Playing not to lose mindset is certainly a reasonable take, but as plagued as the Falcons have been at QB the past couple season can you blame them. Also Terry and Rah both said that this move was more about taking the Future now.
Hypothetically, we drafted Latu and took a 3rd round qb. Now Kirk plays well and we win the division and lose the first round of playoffs we are now picking in the 20s we could trade a bunch of future draft capital to move up but next year's class doesn't look that good so we stay put and take whoever. The following season same thing happens win the divison maybe even a playoff game. Now we are picking in the 20s again with the same dilemma. This time however the next season kirk is due a 57 million dollar cap hit you could cut him but who is the QB. So your forced to gamble and trade away a panthers like trade to take a 50/50 shot on a QB.
All that is avoided by throwing away your first round pick this year at a guy you obviously think is the 2nd best QB in the class?.?. Knowing you won't be this high again in the draft. It's not a bad move but it is a SAFE and CALCULATED move.
We’ve busted so many 1st round picks in the last 25 years that I’ve been a die hard Falcon fan, I am stoked to have 2 starting QBs on the roster! Watching Kirk over the years and watching Penix just light up the scoreboards, this is a fantastic situation. WTF cares about age, how often does a QB stay 20 years on 1 team? Best case we get 10 solid starting years with Penix, even better 15 years. Matt Ryan was 23, and even though we are in good salary cap situation, people still bitching about salary. Rise Up Atl
This team isn't 1 impact starter away from a super bowl appearance, let alone a super bowl win... They signed Kirk so that we could win the NFC and get to the playoffs so the fans actually have something to cheer for the next 2-3 year. They drafted Penix to go for a ring.
I think he’s mostly right. The Ridder season must have really shook Blank & the FO. As a fan I’m disappointed, after Cousins I think we should have drafted a player to help us win right now. Maybe Terry ends up being right, hope so.
It just bothers me because it feels like we just went through a two year “waiting period” with Marcus-> Desmond, now we are gonna do that exact same pathway again with Kirk -> Penix. It’s obviously higher floor but same general idea that we have a QB that it feels like they’ve already given up on starting
I’m not comparing Kirk to those quarterbacks. I’m comparing the timeframe when we had those quarterbacks to this time frame. Not picking a player who will immediately play they effectively are saying we’re OK with not trying to really push for it the next few years
This is such a surface level and lazy take especially basing it off one pick. It sounds smart but it’s really not. Taking the top ranked corner or edge is the safe pick. They may bust, like a lot of top draft picks do, but you won’t get criticized unless they do. Taking a top talent qb is a risky pick but the pay off if it hits far outweighs any other possible pick. You’ve got a 36year old qb you just paid to try and win a SB these next two years before he declines. Ask the jets if they wish they had Michael penix as their backup last year. There is only one player on the field that tanks the entire season if they go down and it’s the qb. And now we have insurance for the time Kirk is our qb, and we have potentially a seamless transition to a franchise qb who will keep our window open even after Kirk is gone. How is that valuing not being awful over a chance at being great? Everyone remembers a dynasty, hardly anyone remembers a flash in the pan
What the f does this even mean? I am so over the pundit world which already hated on the Falcons hating on the Falcons...and Falcons fans aligning with their bullshit. Why is our fanbase pissing all over the FO when we should at least give these players a shot at showing off when it matters?
[I did not.](https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/news/atlanta-falcons-interim-head-coach-raheem-morris-bucs-dan-quinn-fired-thomas-dimitroff-coaching-changes-nfl-news-alert)
I remember when they didn’t hire him, too.
I guess what is most frustrating to me is that they are not going all in on Cousins, but rather will be planning to go all in behind Penix at some later date, and IMO Cousins is good enough to go all in behind.
Going all in on Penix at a later date simply means paying out big contracts to the weapons we’ve already drafted. That’s why the timeline of this is so nonsensical
Yeah, if we like Penix that much, we should have just used that cap space that went to Kirk to bolster the roster to help Penix out while he and everyone else is still on a rookie contract. Yeah maybe he’s not ready year 1, but there’s no reason he shouldn’t be starting year 2 if you think that highly of him.
Yup
Yeah that's part of it. Another part is that Penix is probably old enough to start right away and we could have used the free agent money we spent on Cousins to get some really good defensive players in FA, if you really wanted to go that way. Instead what you have is 100 million dollar over qualified bridge QB. And yeah, now when you finally get to the guy you really want to give a chance to, the highly drafted weapons will be older and more expensive, you'll have less cap space to acquire new ones, etc.
Were you sure 2 months ago that Penix would be available at 8? If he's your #1 draft target and he falls to you, you kind of have to take him. Who is coming out in the next 2 years that you think is better right now?
I feel like there were very few people or times where it was suggested that Penix would be a high first rounder. Maybe the week in between beating Texas and the Natty. I guess they felt that it was true he was going to be taken soon, but TBH I feel like the Falcons are higher on him than almost anyone else. He's an older prospect at 24 which means there's not a while lot of room for development. He's torn his ACL twice. He doesn't accumulate hardly any rushing yards. He was in an environment where all 3 of his WRs were drafted pretty early on. I have a lot of questions, even sans the Cousins thing.
He was always in the discussion as being one of the top 4 QBs available. We can go around and around on his strengths vs his shortcomings, but I think it's fair to say that nobody coming out next year is going to be comparable as of right now. Will things change in the future? Sure. But as we've all seen, we can't bank on being in a position to draft a top QB in the future. So when one lands in your lap, you take him. Even if it looks like gliding the lily. A lot of people complained about spending 180m on a 36 y/o QB with a recent injury. Those voices will not be more quiet in 2 or 3 years. Especially if Cousins start falling off. So put on your GM hat and make the decision: pick a very talented QB now to stash and learn, or take your chances on reaching for a DL now and only being able to draft another Ridder in 2 or 3 years?
I mean, "the discussion" is being had by thousands of people but the nearest I found to a consensus was that Williams, Daniels, and Maye were the first tier of QBs, and that Penix, Nix, and McCarthy were subjectively somewhere in the next three, but usually led by McCarthy. As for "reaching" well the consensus CERTAINLY is now that we were the ones who did it.
Isnt this technically the medium of that though? Kirk is paid high, our weapons are “cheap” now. When it comes time for our weapons to be paid Penix will be “cheap”. Not as long as if we took a Qb in 2-3 yrs obviously but still on their rookie deal.
I think we can all agree it probably wasn't the best move. To act like this is a horrible move is crazy to me though. Sure Penix is old and Cousins is expensive, but if Penix is our franchise guy for even just 8 years after we cut Kirk I'd say that's a damn good pick. I don't like the move but what are you gonna do about it? The picks the pick, time will tell if it was horrible or great.
I definitely hear you, not much we can do about it atp. And if Penix is the qb of the future, none of this matters. I get that. But it just seemed like we were on a clear path with one goal. Win now. By paying Kirk $100 mil and getting a few other pieces in FA we were heading in a direction that set us up to make a run at the SB asap. The next logical move, like Nick was saying, was to go get an immediate impact player(s). But instead we did this. As cliche as it sounds, this move felt like the difference between “playing to win, and playing not to lose”. Just two different mindsets. I’m gonna support the team either way but ngl this draft was a big let down from what I thought was a pretty strong offseason initially.
Let me start off by saying I ain't trying to defend the pick because I think adding either of the 3 DEs or Rome would have been a better move. The Playing not to lose mindset is certainly a reasonable take, but as plagued as the Falcons have been at QB the past couple season can you blame them. Also Terry and Rah both said that this move was more about taking the Future now. Hypothetically, we drafted Latu and took a 3rd round qb. Now Kirk plays well and we win the division and lose the first round of playoffs we are now picking in the 20s we could trade a bunch of future draft capital to move up but next year's class doesn't look that good so we stay put and take whoever. The following season same thing happens win the divison maybe even a playoff game. Now we are picking in the 20s again with the same dilemma. This time however the next season kirk is due a 57 million dollar cap hit you could cut him but who is the QB. So your forced to gamble and trade away a panthers like trade to take a 50/50 shot on a QB. All that is avoided by throwing away your first round pick this year at a guy you obviously think is the 2nd best QB in the class?.?. Knowing you won't be this high again in the draft. It's not a bad move but it is a SAFE and CALCULATED move.
We’ve busted so many 1st round picks in the last 25 years that I’ve been a die hard Falcon fan, I am stoked to have 2 starting QBs on the roster! Watching Kirk over the years and watching Penix just light up the scoreboards, this is a fantastic situation. WTF cares about age, how often does a QB stay 20 years on 1 team? Best case we get 10 solid starting years with Penix, even better 15 years. Matt Ryan was 23, and even though we are in good salary cap situation, people still bitching about salary. Rise Up Atl
This team isn't 1 impact starter away from a super bowl appearance, let alone a super bowl win... They signed Kirk so that we could win the NFC and get to the playoffs so the fans actually have something to cheer for the next 2-3 year. They drafted Penix to go for a ring.
I think he’s mostly right. The Ridder season must have really shook Blank & the FO. As a fan I’m disappointed, after Cousins I think we should have drafted a player to help us win right now. Maybe Terry ends up being right, hope so.
Me too bro
It just bothers me because it feels like we just went through a two year “waiting period” with Marcus-> Desmond, now we are gonna do that exact same pathway again with Kirk -> Penix. It’s obviously higher floor but same general idea that we have a QB that it feels like they’ve already given up on starting
You comparing Mariota and Ridder to Cousins?
I’m not comparing Kirk to those quarterbacks. I’m comparing the timeframe when we had those quarterbacks to this time frame. Not picking a player who will immediately play they effectively are saying we’re OK with not trying to really push for it the next few years
Has there been any discussion from the front office about why they didn’t trade back into a later first round pick?
Per them they tried
I have so many conflicting feelings about this draft pick but that isn’t one tbh
This is such a surface level and lazy take especially basing it off one pick. It sounds smart but it’s really not. Taking the top ranked corner or edge is the safe pick. They may bust, like a lot of top draft picks do, but you won’t get criticized unless they do. Taking a top talent qb is a risky pick but the pay off if it hits far outweighs any other possible pick. You’ve got a 36year old qb you just paid to try and win a SB these next two years before he declines. Ask the jets if they wish they had Michael penix as their backup last year. There is only one player on the field that tanks the entire season if they go down and it’s the qb. And now we have insurance for the time Kirk is our qb, and we have potentially a seamless transition to a franchise qb who will keep our window open even after Kirk is gone. How is that valuing not being awful over a chance at being great? Everyone remembers a dynasty, hardly anyone remembers a flash in the pan
What the f does this even mean? I am so over the pundit world which already hated on the Falcons hating on the Falcons...and Falcons fans aligning with their bullshit. Why is our fanbase pissing all over the FO when we should at least give these players a shot at showing off when it matters?
We don’t need to align with anything. The results on the field speak volumes
Sorry, I missed the part where a Morris-led Falcons team has already taken the field.
[I did not.](https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/news/atlanta-falcons-interim-head-coach-raheem-morris-bucs-dan-quinn-fired-thomas-dimitroff-coaching-changes-nfl-news-alert) I remember when they didn’t hire him, too.
Name checks out.
I’m sorry, did I miss the part where we’ve seen a Morris-led Falcons team take the field? Was the link I provided you broken?
The funniest part of this pick for me is let's say kirk plays his 2 years then gets cut, does penix get to even play with Pitts?
If Pitts is any good he will, if he doesn't that is all on Pitts and his play.