The more I think about it, the less sense it makes.
Why would the Falcons, barely six weeks after committing $100 million to Kirk Cousins, use the eighth overall pick on a quarterback?
The goal was, or at least it was supposed to be, trying to win a championship with Cousins. Using the eighth overall pick on his replacement does nothing to achieve that goal.
The confusion Cousins is experiencing likely flows in large part from the things the Falcons said to get him to sign. Even if they never told him they wouldn’t be using a top-10 pick on his successor, the vibe surely went something like, “Let’s go chase a championship.”
Using a prime draft pick and banking it for future use contradicts that message. It’s almost as if the Falcons have prejudged Cousins as someone who will take them to a certain level but no farther. As Devin McCourty pointed out during Friday’s PFT Live, the Falcons have treated Cousins the same way the Chiefs treated Alex Smith.
The difference, of course, is that Smith had four years with the Chiefs before they decided he wouldn’t take them to the top of the mountain. Cousins hasn’t even played a down in Atlanta.
It’s almost as if they assume he’ll be what he always has been — a solid but not spectacular player who’ll take the Falcons to the playoffs, perhaps to the divisional round. Which isn’t an unfair assessment. But it’s the kind of thing that the Falcons should have told him when they were recruiting him.
Who knows? He might have decided to stay in Minnesota, where there was a developing sense that, with another year in Kevin O’Connell’s offense, Cousins could possibly break the narrative on his career. By drafting Penix, the Falcons have sent an unmistakable message to the league.
The Falcons believe the Cousins narrative. They’re betting on it. By picking Penix instead of a player who’ll make an impact in the next year or two, the Falcons could make it a self-fulfilling prophecy.
And, yes, Cousins will still make $100 million. But that’s it. He wanted his third stop to be his last, best shot at a Super Bowl. Last night, Cousins became Charlie Brown — and the Falcons pulled the football away, like Lucy.