When quarterback Kirk Cousins had his first press conference with the Falcons, he walked the team right into multiple tampering violations. His next press conference could be even more compelling.
That’s when Cousins will field plenty of questions regarding the team’s decision to use the eighth overall pick in the draft on quarterback Michael Penix Jr. It will be interesting to see what he says, and how he says it. Body language. Facial expressions. The classic face-touch tell.
Even if the Falcons never expressly told him they wouldn’t take a quarterback at No. 8, using that pick on a player who won’t be playing if Cousins is playing well kept them from using it on someone who could help them win in 2024, 2025, and 2026. If Cousins plays for that long.
Does he expect to stay three years? Two years? One year?
How does he feel about having a viable competitor for the first time as a starter? Even if the Falcons say all the right things about the pecking order, it could get awkward in the locker room, it could get pointed in the media, and it could get loud in the stands.
WE WANT MANNION is something that never would have been chanted in Minnesota. WE WANT PENIX is a possibility, by Thanksgiving.
Speaking of Minnesota, here’s a fair question for Kirk. If you’d known in March that the Falcons were taking Penix, would you have signed with the Falcons or stayed in Minnesota? The truth, I believe, is that he would have stayed put. While he likely won’t say that, what will he say if/when he’s asked that question?
The other question, beyond his next press conference, is what he’ll do? Will the presence of Penix prompt Cousins to show up early, stay late, and actually work on Tuesdays? Or will he do the minimum, reasoning that if the Falcons aren’t using their draft picks to maximize the team’s chances in 2024 and 2025, why should he work for free?
Cousins might decide he wants out. Technically, he could be traded after June 1 with $12.5 million in dead money this year and $37.5 million in 2025. If traded after the season, the charge in 2025 would be $37.5 million; his cap hit if on the team next year is due to be $40 million.
There’s no way Penix will sit, as G.M. Terry Fontenot has suggested, for four or five years. It’s three at the very most, one at a minimum (barring injury to Cousins). The most likely is two. While Cousins has a no-trade clause, he’d surely consider waiving it for a chance to play elsewhere — if Penix will be taking over then,
Consider the Penix side of this. He turns 24 next week. Does anyone think he won’t do everything in his power to accelerate his timeline for playing?
It’s unclear how he fits in this narrative. Good guy or bad guy? Hero or villain?
Much of that depends on where things go from here. His popularity will spike if Cousins struggles, or if Penix gets a chance to play and plays well.
While scattered justifications and explanations for the move have emerged (including from the usual suspects who know where and how their bread is buttered), the smart view is that the Falcons outsmarted themselves with this one.
