When the Atlanta Falcons selected Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick in the draft just weeks after signing veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year deal worth over $100 million, it left many wondering what the team’s plans were at the quarterback position. But general manager Terry Fontenot clarified a bit during his press conference on Thursday.
Following the team’s decision to select Michael Penix Jr., Terry Fontenot made it clear that Kirk Cousins will remain the team’s starting quarterback, but the team selected Penix because of what he can offer them in the future.
“Kirk Cousins is our quarterback,” Fontenot said according to Pro Football Talk. “We’re very excited about Kirk. We’re very excited about this team. Michael Penix is . . . we’re talking about the future. You look at the future. You look at the big picture. We are very excited about that quarterback room, and again, Kirk is our quarterback. But adding Michael Penix is thinking about the future.”
The Falcons selected Penix at No. 8 while they can because they don’t expect to be picking in the top 10 in the future and what a smooth transition after Cousins.
“It’s pretty simple for us: When you get Kirk Cousins, and you talk about short-term winning and talk about winning right now, which we know we will be in a position to do, we won’t have the ability to be picking this high again with the guy that we got,” coach Raheem Morris said. “We were lucky enough to watch Matt Ryan play 14 years . . . with the Atlanta Falcons. At some point, you’ve got to find a way to have that succession plan in place. It just so happened it presented itself tonight.”
We’ll have to see how this works out for them.
