When the Atlanta Falcons selected Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday night, it came as a shock to pretty much everyone. And apparently, that included current Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins.
The Atlanta Falcons signed Kirk Cousins as a free agent this offseason and appear set to move forward with him as their starting quarterback for the next few years. However, according to multiple reports, the Falcons did not communicate to Cousins that they were planning to draft Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick.
During the NFL Network’s broadcast of the draft, NFL draft analyst and insider Daniel Jeremiah reported that Cousins “was not really given a heads up” on the team’s selection.
Daniel Jeremiah: "I just reached out to his agent, Mike McCartney, he was not given a heads up. Kirk Cousins was not given really a heads up on this whole thing." pic.twitter.com/ShfKRBR257
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 26, 2024
“I just reached out to his agent, Mike McCartney … he was not given a heads up. Kirk Cousins was not given really a heads up on this whole thing,” Jeremiah said.
NFL insider Dianna Russini corroborated this report from Jeremiah, saying that Cousins was “a bit stunned” by the move.
“The Falcons called Kirk Cousins when they were on the clock to let him know. From what I learned, Cousins understood a QB would be considered but he did not believe his successor would be taken in the first round. I’m told he’s a bit stunned,” Russini said in a post on X, the social media website that was formerly known as Twitter.
It certainly adds a bit more drama to the situation.
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