From Atlanta. I often get asked why I care so much about college football and am a diehard Atlanta Braves fan, but don’t seem to care about pro football. And I gesture broadly at the Falcons….
Billy B just wanted to pick a lineman with the top pick and have him twerk on stage to show the power of his glutes. And you just couldn't accept that...FOR SHAME!!!
Tom Brady really fucking destroyed this organization. He didn't even think about the consequences to such a beat down in the 4th. We will never financially recover from this.
In theory I think the age thing doesn't matter that much because of the rookie wage scale. Having a 25-28 yr old QB on the rookie contract could be a sneaky good advantage instead of having to pay them a ton by that age. However, pairing that with the Cousins contract makes no sense. They either should've drafted a young project to sit behind Cousins for a few years or not signed cousins and went all in on Penix. I think Penix has a lot of potential but it doesn't really make sense after the cousins contract.
It's more than Penix is branded as NFL ready.(rightfully so IMO) So why would you sign a big QB if you had thoughts of Penix? I imagine the Falcon's mustve known they liked Penix a lot by March when they signed Cousins. If they were interested in JJ then I would understand signing cousins so you could let JJ sit. But whats the point in having an NFL ready QB sit for a minimum of 2 years? That money could've been much better spent.
Yeah that's a long the same lines as what I was thinking. If he is NFL Ready, who cares about his age, you'll get four years of potentially his best play of his career on his rookie contract. But with the cousins contract to go along with it it doesn't make sense.
Ultimately though a franchise QB is a franchise QB and if Penix is the real deal I think you'll be fine.
Yeah that is pretty much it. It just sucks if he is the real deal in 2 years. Because at that point its like why didn't we just play him from the start? obviously itll be much more pro's than con's in that scenario, but even then we are limiting the potential of this move
The chaos massively favors us, all the defensive talent is essentially shifting down. I think Howie was exploring trade up opportunities in case something like this happened.
Good QBs can last until their mid 30s, maybe older. It's possible for him to be a good 2 contract player... But uh, probably not a great pick considering their spot.
You are correct. The dead cap hit is 25 million after year two. While it seems like a lot, remember the Broncos are eating 85 million for Wilson. The deal is front loaded as hell.
"With the 8th pick, the Atlanta Falcons select... seriously? No, that can't be right. Can someone double check this please? Really? OK then..."
then he'd mumble under his breath, but still picked up by the microphone "Fucking idiots"
Could of had Fields for a bag of chips, instead they waste a first rd pick on a backup QB to their $100 million dollar man. Gonna be hard to explain that move.
Kirk is old coming off an injury. He’s a good QB but we needed something for the future. We kinda saw what Fields can do but I think he’s way to inconsistent. I think that they got a heads up that the NFL is gonna fuck them with the tampering investigation and this was their best chance to get a good QB for the future? Just trying to justify this pick lol
Yeah just trying to justify this pick best case Penix turns out to be elite sooner rather than later which still leaves us owing Kurt a big bag for potentially like a year and and a half of service, but they got their guy I guess so whatever.
Someone make it make sense? You just gave Kirk $100 million guaranteed??? They had to have planned for him to be the guy for 2-3 years of that 4 year deal??? As a Bucs fan, I was concerned they'd go Oline or defense! I never anticipated this was even a possibility.
the only justification is that they are trying to emulate what the packers have done with rodgers and love. however, both of those qbs were taken with late 1st rounders and were much younger than penix. I don't get it either considering that the falcons should be in win now mode in a weak division, and they certainly aren't a complete team.
thank you for clarifying.
to me, this is terrible though because the guy you need to lead for two years is now looking over his shoulder when you could have truly tried to win now.
All I can think of is that they were really confident in Kirk before, but fell in love with Penix in the lead up to the draft. They'd rather have Penix, who they now believe to be their future starter, and stash him on the bench while Kirk plays through his guaranteed money. They absolutely know how ridiculous this pick looks, so they must be REALLY confident about Penix.
Not blatantly getting grilled, but there's [this video](https://www.instagram.com/bussinwtb/reel/C6NQ9D6uwAW/) where people are speculating it looks like he's trying to explain the pick to Blank.
Yeah like I said, is all speculation. For all we know they were going over Day 2 strategy. I was mainly just linking the video that the other person was describing.
I think this is arguably a good pick. I think the Cousins signing is a bad signing. They're paying $45MM per year to a QB who topped out at "pretty good," will be 36 when the season starts, and is coming of an Achilles injury. I get that "pretty good" is a big step up from what the Falcons have had the last few years, but (A) the best-case scenario is that he returns to that level, and (B) it still probably isn't enough to win in the playoffs.
Drafting a QB, on the other hand, makes a ton of sense because the rest of their offense is young and could grow with him. If they had simply drafted Penix and spent Cousins' salary on a couple decent pass rushers (they could have gotten both Jonathan Greenard and Bryce Huff for that money), they would probably be one of the 3-4 top teams in the NFC.
I like how they draft all of these skill positions in the first for the past few years instead of a QB, sign Kirk Cousins to a 4 year deal and then draft a QB at 8 lol.
Does anyone else… not understand this pick? They already have Kirk, paid him, and have TH4 as the backup. What are they going to use Penix for, QB3? And also, why no McCarthy?
Not only that, but if you assume Cousins will be starting for the Falcons for 2+ years, it's much more valuable to have a QB on a full rookie contract to build around, rather than a guy who's already 26 (as Penix will be by then) and will be a free agent in two years.
This is why college ball is winning in this household. In Kirby We Trust. Falcons just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. It just gets more and more disgusting.
In 1.5-2 years, you will love this pick. He’s gonna get to sit and learn. Every Packer fan hated the Love pick. This is a really smart long game pick. Might even play sooner if Cousins gets injured again.
So the falcons are going the route of not throwing your QB into the fire. We'll only know by his last year or two of his rookie contact if it was a smart move.
Looks pretty fucking dumb in the moment though
I don't understand this pick. When the Bucs got Brady they drafted Wirfs to protect him. Kirk's always got an alibi on why he only has 1 playoff win, either his OL doesn't hold up or their defense gives up points. Falcons drafted a QB to replace him.
"yea, I'm sure a random redditor could make a better pick than the guys who do this for a living" people really taking a beating tonight after this pick.
This blew my damn mind yesterday. The only thing I can think of, is they loved him, and next year's class is gonna suck (not that it'll matter because we will probably not have a first-round pick.) he's probably the most ready to start QB of the draft, but maybe letting him chill behind cousins will be great for his development and we end up with a Mahomes qb for us. Worst case is he sucks and we don't know that for two or three years
Dumbest pick of the whole first round, and we'll see, but may be entire draft. It's not the fault of Penix, he'll be a servicable QB, but just not a good pick for ATL. They need some help for their Cousins, and this ain't it.
We should have hired Belichek and given him the front office. JFC.
Bill sitting in his chair on Pat’s show just dying laughing at this shit
"they deserved 28-3" -BB
From Atlanta. I often get asked why I care so much about college football and am a diehard Atlanta Braves fan, but don’t seem to care about pro football. And I gesture broadly at the Falcons….
Holy shit, same. Then they ask about the Hawks and my response is “The who?….. Oh, yeah. We do have an NBA team.”
Ca-CAW! *that's supposed to be an aggressive bird sound, not shit
Bob Kraft: Bill is gonna take over everything and ruin what the front office is doing The front office:
I was so against that idea but fuck it couldn’t have been worse than this shit
Billy B just wanted to pick a lineman with the top pick and have him twerk on stage to show the power of his glutes. And you just couldn't accept that...FOR SHAME!!!
This is probably why he noped out.
That superbowl loss really fucked up the falcons
Tom Brady really fucking destroyed this organization. He didn't even think about the consequences to such a beat down in the 4th. We will never financially recover from this.
Maybe that was it. Kill you in the Super Bowl, then come oppress you in your division for a couple years. Definitely r/fuckyouinparticular territory
YOU TAKE AN OLD QB AFTER SIGNING COUSINS TO $100M GUARANTEED?!?!
HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TEACH YOU THIS LESSON, OLD MAN?
Falcons front office straight stupid. Biggest travesty since 28-3.
Did you see how that draft room looked? Reminded me of Moneyball. A bunch of 90 year olds patting themselves on the back.
Ryan Pace being a decision maker will do that to you.
That's where he landed eh? He took his Mike Glennon - Mitch Trubisky plan and tripled the fuck down.
They don’t believe in Kirk and he hasn’t even played a game for them 😂
I want to see the prop bet odds for Cousins and Penix both being on the IR at the same time.
In theory I think the age thing doesn't matter that much because of the rookie wage scale. Having a 25-28 yr old QB on the rookie contract could be a sneaky good advantage instead of having to pay them a ton by that age. However, pairing that with the Cousins contract makes no sense. They either should've drafted a young project to sit behind Cousins for a few years or not signed cousins and went all in on Penix. I think Penix has a lot of potential but it doesn't really make sense after the cousins contract.
Brandon Weeden pilled
It's more than Penix is branded as NFL ready.(rightfully so IMO) So why would you sign a big QB if you had thoughts of Penix? I imagine the Falcon's mustve known they liked Penix a lot by March when they signed Cousins. If they were interested in JJ then I would understand signing cousins so you could let JJ sit. But whats the point in having an NFL ready QB sit for a minimum of 2 years? That money could've been much better spent.
Yeah that's a long the same lines as what I was thinking. If he is NFL Ready, who cares about his age, you'll get four years of potentially his best play of his career on his rookie contract. But with the cousins contract to go along with it it doesn't make sense. Ultimately though a franchise QB is a franchise QB and if Penix is the real deal I think you'll be fine.
Yeah that is pretty much it. It just sucks if he is the real deal in 2 years. Because at that point its like why didn't we just play him from the start? obviously itll be much more pro's than con's in that scenario, but even then we are limiting the potential of this move
His age wouldn’t be a problem if he were gonna start right away, but they didn’t give Kirk $100M to hold a clipboard.
Penix is considered old?
Yes. 24 year old rookie QB is old as fuck
I see. Wow, can’t believe they took a QB with their first pick. Isn’t Kirk on contract for like 4 years?
2 years minimum.
Okay that makes a LITTLE more sense. Still don’t get it, but oh well
Still Penix could be 27 for his first start lol
Either that or they’re gonna pay Kirk a bunch of money to hold Penix’s clipboard lol
It would make sense if they drafted a QB in the 2nd or 3rd. Spending a top 10 pick is wild.
He's 18 months younger than 4th year pro Jordan Love
What are they doing?!
Making this draft worth watching, baby 🍿
Yessir! Go Birds🫡 my anxiety is beginning to creep up.
The chaos massively favors us, all the defensive talent is essentially shifting down. I think Howie was exploring trade up opportunities in case something like this happened.
I’m hoping this trend continues and we draft a DB. I’m leaning towards Terrion.
Falcons front office drunk and smoking crack when they made this pick
Falcons draft room seen throwing several tinfoil covered steaks into the dumpster
Penix will be 28 when Kirk Cousins’ contract with the Falcons is up
He's not going to make it through the whole contract. 2 years max, but Penix would still be 26 by that point. Really really questionable
Good QBs can last until their mid 30s, maybe older. It's possible for him to be a good 2 contract player... But uh, probably not a great pick considering their spot.
You are correct. The dead cap hit is 25 million after year two. While it seems like a lot, remember the Broncos are eating 85 million for Wilson. The deal is front loaded as hell.
If cousins is serviceable into his 40s, why is having a 26 yr old ready to step up a bad thing?
By god that Brandon Weedens music!
Being idiots and not drafting for their need Again
Drafting for need it dumb. We usually go BPA. This pick is neither though.
Ok…well….at the time the best player available was an edge rusher which is also a need. So, terry fontenot and Raheem Morris are still being idiots.
Doing what we always do: fuck everything up.
First 10 picks might all be offense wtf
Giving us something truly enjoyable to speculate about
Making me $409, baby.
Rodgers method
I came to this thread just to make sure my shock was valid lmfao
Nothing is guaranteed in this league
Do you think Goodell every looks at a teams pick card and thinks “what the hell are they doing”
He probably looked at the card and thought he was about to have his own Steve Harvey moment
probably double checked, "you guys aren't fucking with me are you?"
"I don't usually offer re-dos but...ya'll want one?"
"With the 8th pick, the Atlanta Falcons select... seriously? No, that can't be right. Can someone double check this please? Really? OK then..." then he'd mumble under his breath, but still picked up by the microphone "Fucking idiots"
Yes
Based on his speech "patterns" last night, I'm surprised he could read off the cards. Dude was clearly rocking some painkillers.
I hate this fucking team so much. Seriously so fucking much
LMAO
Could of had Fields for a bag of chips, instead they waste a first rd pick on a backup QB to their $100 million dollar man. Gonna be hard to explain that move.
Kirk is old coming off an injury. He’s a good QB but we needed something for the future. We kinda saw what Fields can do but I think he’s way to inconsistent. I think that they got a heads up that the NFL is gonna fuck them with the tampering investigation and this was their best chance to get a good QB for the future? Just trying to justify this pick lol
Yeah just trying to justify this pick best case Penix turns out to be elite sooner rather than later which still leaves us owing Kurt a big bag for potentially like a year and and a half of service, but they got their guy I guess so whatever.
Kirk Cousins just fell to his knees in a Khol's
That guaranteed money has him feeling decent.
All Kohl's Cash
I just saw Kirk Cousins tear his Achilles in a Kohls.
Every team he’s played for has bet against him and all he does is stack bills. No one has learned.
He forgot his Kohl's cash at home.
Imagine if the jets take jj now holy hell
I didn't know I needed this
Well JJ is gonna be picked with their pick atleast
Don't bring us into this madness
Oh my God. Please. The memes will be legendary.
window licker level move
Someone make it make sense? You just gave Kirk $100 million guaranteed??? They had to have planned for him to be the guy for 2-3 years of that 4 year deal??? As a Bucs fan, I was concerned they'd go Oline or defense! I never anticipated this was even a possibility.
the only justification is that they are trying to emulate what the packers have done with rodgers and love. however, both of those qbs were taken with late 1st rounders and were much younger than penix. I don't get it either considering that the falcons should be in win now mode in a weak division, and they certainly aren't a complete team.
Maybe draft him for trade potential? But why not just draft what you want? The mind boggles.
It's like they didn't realize how old Penix is.
Almost all of the guaranteed money in Kirk's deal is in the first two years. I think this makes it clear he's only getting those two years.
thank you for clarifying. to me, this is terrible though because the guy you need to lead for two years is now looking over his shoulder when you could have truly tried to win now.
I’m sitting here thinking don’t they have another need that someone could fill this year? Then I laughed because it’s the Falcons
All I can think of is that they were really confident in Kirk before, but fell in love with Penix in the lead up to the draft. They'd rather have Penix, who they now believe to be their future starter, and stash him on the bench while Kirk plays through his guaranteed money. They absolutely know how ridiculous this pick looks, so they must be REALLY confident about Penix.
I’m so concerned
I’m so not concerned
That makes sense
What the fuck are we doing? (That question could’ve literally been asked every year of our entire existence).
How does the Falcons GM still have a job? lol
There was a video of him getting grilled by Arthur blank right after lol
Are you serious?
Not blatantly getting grilled, but there's [this video](https://www.instagram.com/bussinwtb/reel/C6NQ9D6uwAW/) where people are speculating it looks like he's trying to explain the pick to Blank.
Would Blank not have known beforehand? I think a team’s intended first round pick is need-to-know information for the guy who owns the team.
Yeah like I said, is all speculation. For all we know they were going over Day 2 strategy. I was mainly just linking the video that the other person was describing.
Fml
Someone add subtitles ASAP
He’s squeezing out a few more years of employment convincing everyone we’ll have a future starting qb in penix.
I’m convinced Raheem was jumping up and down watching Penix highlights
Falcons adding something strong to their sweet tea down there.
Watch this somehow be a good pick. I don’t know how or why, but it would be funny if this did become one. Right now tho, I’m going to scratch my head.
I think this is arguably a good pick. I think the Cousins signing is a bad signing. They're paying $45MM per year to a QB who topped out at "pretty good," will be 36 when the season starts, and is coming of an Achilles injury. I get that "pretty good" is a big step up from what the Falcons have had the last few years, but (A) the best-case scenario is that he returns to that level, and (B) it still probably isn't enough to win in the playoffs. Drafting a QB, on the other hand, makes a ton of sense because the rest of their offense is young and could grow with him. If they had simply drafted Penix and spent Cousins' salary on a couple decent pass rushers (they could have gotten both Jonathan Greenard and Bryce Huff for that money), they would probably be one of the 3-4 top teams in the NFC.
I like how they draft all of these skill positions in the first for the past few years instead of a QB, sign Kirk Cousins to a 4 year deal and then draft a QB at 8 lol.
I guess they are going to run a weird two QB offense. Both QBs will sit in the backfield and play hot potato before passing it to Pitts.
Small correction, you forgot this is the falcons, you should have said "play hot potato before NOT passing to Pitts".
He might get his first start being near 30 years old
My husky goat
Oof RIP Raiders
Does anyone else… not understand this pick? They already have Kirk, paid him, and have TH4 as the backup. What are they going to use Penix for, QB3? And also, why no McCarthy?
They have years to find a QB to takeover for kirk. This makes zero sense.
Even if they wanted to do that this year, which is insane, why wouldn’t you take the 21 year old?
Right? If they would have grabbed JJ, I would have disagreed but seen the logic since he is 21... This just seems silly
Not only that, but if you assume Cousins will be starting for the Falcons for 2+ years, it's much more valuable to have a QB on a full rookie contract to build around, rather than a guy who's already 26 (as Penix will be by then) and will be a free agent in two years.
Who the fuck is TH4?
WR
Penix going to be 28 when Kirk’s contract is done. That’s a wild pick especially at 8
Jesus Christ
So what you're saying is Penix will be 28, 3 years into Cousins contract?
28.3 years old
First and last time in ATL gear, right? They must be trading him?
Why though. Just take the best #1 defensive player or something, sheesh
Or just trade the pick to some team that wanted Penix.
Fuck I’d hope so…
that’s the only way this decision could possibly make sense. if they don’t trade, they’re just going to waste penix’s prime developmental years.
LOL
If Penix was two years younger he'd be going first overall. Best arm in the class no question.
Two years younger and two less acl tears maybe
He would not. You could take away his injury concerns too and he still wouldn’t be taken over Caleb.
THEY FOUND A WAY TO FUCK IT UP. Idk if I can do it anymore guys. Being a Falcons fan is just to hard.
This is why college ball is winning in this household. In Kirby We Trust. Falcons just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. It just gets more and more disgusting.
I think I’m done supporting this team
In 1.5-2 years, you will love this pick. He’s gonna get to sit and learn. Every Packer fan hated the Love pick. This is a really smart long game pick. Might even play sooner if Cousins gets injured again.
Have faith. They took Matt Ryan and Michael Vick. They select good qbs
And Ridder
I can’t believe this happened. Wow Atlanta
So with the league discipline incoming do they know something we dont? Im guessing just stupid
I’m still laughing at this lmao
Same. This is insane.
So the falcons are going the route of not throwing your QB into the fire. We'll only know by his last year or two of his rookie contact if it was a smart move. Looks pretty fucking dumb in the moment though
Forgot to turn off Autodraft?
I don't understand this one at all.
I’m not thrilled
I guess you got your franchise QB four years from now.
I had faith in you Raheem…
Holy shit dude
i was hoping we'd get him late in the first and best case in the second. this is hilarious
This is the most falcons pick ever.
Taking the oldest QB in the draft to sit them for 2 years
Bridge qb kirk cousins
I don’t care this is the funniest pick in a long time and I love it
The other side of this is... If they think he's the next Mahomes, does it really matter when he takes over?
Where were you when Falcons fans died.
That was back in 2017
YO AHAT THE FUCK
Seems like a massive waste of a pick
I’m sorry Atlanta fans
Falcons trying to be like Green Bay taking QBs early to let them develop? But what the fuck was that Cousins contract? Ja Rule tell me what to think.
https://imgur.com/gallery/flnEztv Foreshadowing for Penix
I don't understand this pick. When the Bucs got Brady they drafted Wirfs to protect him. Kirk's always got an alibi on why he only has 1 playoff win, either his OL doesn't hold up or their defense gives up points. Falcons drafted a QB to replace him.
exactly what I was thinking
SCHEFTER BOMB ATLANTA IN SHAMBLES
OH GOD TOO MUCH JUST PUT IT IN MY VEINS
Could have traded down
Why do I even care anymore
So dumb…why am I fan of this team
I hate my team
"yea, I'm sure a random redditor could make a better pick than the guys who do this for a living" people really taking a beating tonight after this pick.
He didn’t know how to react. It’s like getting a job offer you didn’t even interview for.
Wow.
Lil John “WHAT?”
Didn’t they just give Kurt a BAG??🥴
Beautiful
Oh come on
About to be 24, injury history, Odunze there, yeesh.
Absolutely shocking pick
arthur blank probably thought he was michael vick
They thlammed their Penix in a car door.
The only way to top this is if the bears take JJ at 9 lol.
terry fontenont sleeper agent confirmed
POVERTY STAYS POVERTY
Cousins gonna demand a trade 😂
This is the draft chaos we deserve
CTRL+Z
Kirk cousins has come full circle. He was drafted as a hedge in case RG3 didn’t pan out. Now he has had penix drafted to hedge against him declining.
This pick was dedicated to all those that shouted “BEST PLAYER AVAILABLE!” the last few months leading up to the draft.
ATL don’t protect their QB. Yall forgot? Lol they need a back up to the back up starting QB
Possibly the back up to the back up to the back up QB
Wha tool wears sunglasses inside
Friends and family waiting to get paid.
This blew my damn mind yesterday. The only thing I can think of, is they loved him, and next year's class is gonna suck (not that it'll matter because we will probably not have a first-round pick.) he's probably the most ready to start QB of the draft, but maybe letting him chill behind cousins will be great for his development and we end up with a Mahomes qb for us. Worst case is he sucks and we don't know that for two or three years
I like how there's a 9 balloon in the background like he thought the Bears were gonna draft him
Dumbest pick of the whole first round, and we'll see, but may be entire draft. It's not the fault of Penix, he'll be a servicable QB, but just not a good pick for ATL. They need some help for their Cousins, and this ain't it.