Cousins/Penix Jr Draft Saga Continues

Man this Kirk Cousins/Michael Penix Jr draft saga sure has some serious legs. Remember the Falcons said the last thing they wanted was to create a draft story with legs. Whoops. Scuse Me. My bad. That's exactly what they ended up doing.

They had to know though, right? The Falcons had to know people were gonna be fascinated with that pick right after they dropped $100 mil guaranteed on Kirk Cousins. They had to know it was gonna get attention and momentum and become a massive major thing. Because it certainly has become a massive major thing.

And the latest development is the revelation, according to Albert Breer, that Cousins opted to sign with the Falcons in part because the Vikings warned him that they were planning to draft his replacement in the first round.

So the dude leaves the Vikings because they were gonna draft a QB in the first round, just to go sign with a team that does that exact thing. Which adds a new dimension to that report about Kirk being “stunned” in reaction to the pick.

Especially because that report from Diana Russini also included this line: “When Cousins signed with the team this offseason, the Falcons told him they would be drafting a quarterback in the later rounds of this draft.”

In the later rounds, not the first round. It was only while the Falcons were on the clock at #8 that Kirk became aware of this new plan to draft his replacement in the first round. In other words, that was when Kirk became aware that Atlanta’s plan was actually the same plan as Minnesota’s plan. That his new team had the same plan that caused him to ditch his old team.

So yeah I would say that’s pretty stunning. And I would say that Kirk has every right to be stunned. But I’ll stop short of saying the Falcons did the dude dirty. That I don’t agree with.

I mean first off, there’s the $100 mil guarantee, throwing someone a hundred mil is not exactly screwing them over. I mean if that's doing someone dirty then please, someone come do me that dirty. I'm open to being done that dirty any place, anytime, anywhere.

But also, what did Atlanta really truly owe the dude? Did they owe him a comprehensive draft strategy? Did they owe him their entire five year franchise plan? Did they owe this QB who’s never taken a snap yet for the franchise a moment-by-moment outline of the changes to their draft board? I would argue that they don’t owe him any of that.

Now if they purposely and intentionally misled him in negotiations, then yeah, that’s a little bit shady. But we don’t have any evidence that Atlanta purposely and intentionally misled Kirk. That they told him one thing in negotiations when they knew for sure their plan was to do something else. We don't know that.

All we know is that ultimately, Atlanta did what Minnesota was planning to do and drafted Kirk's successor in the first round. And here’s the thing about that, if two different franchises have the exact same succession plan in mind, there’s probably a good reason. And in this case, we know the reason, and it IS a good reason, it’s because Cousins is going on 36 years old and trying to come back from an Achilles injury. That's why two different franchises were planning the same plan regarding his successor.

It’s ultimately the same reason why I don’t absolutely hate the Penix pick myself. I understand that logically, you want to pick a dude in the first round who can run WITH Kirk and not sit BEHIND Kirk. But what if Kirk isn’t right, or what if he does get reinjured? Atlanta now has a legit backup plan.

Basically, the Falcons and Vikings made the same decision: we’re not putting our entire season AND our entire future in the hands of a 35-going-on-36-year-old QB recovering from an Achilles injury. And it’s hard to knock that decision. When you put it that way, it’s kinda smart. Which is why both franchises were thinking the exact same way.

Would it have been equally outrageous if the Vikings had re-signed Kirk Cousins but also picked JJ McCarthy? Would that pick have broken the internet? Would that pick have been the dominant story of the draft, with legs for weeks?

It’s an interesting question because it totally could have played out that way. Which I think lets Atlanta off the hook a little here… it’s not like Terry Fontenot and Raheem Morris were the only smart dudes thinking first round successor for Kirk Cousins. The smart dudes in Minnesota were thinking the exact same thoughts.

Again, I understand a lot of the criticism for the pick, I just think a lot of it stemmed as much from the awkward explanations of the pick than the actual pick itself. Telling us that it would be a good thing if Penix never played a down on his rookie contract was not exactly the best way to alleviate concerns in the ATL. In fact, it might have been the best way to inflame the entire situation.

But ultimately, there is a good reason why Kirk tried to run from this plan in Minnesota and wound up walking right into the same plan in Atlanta. It's because it's not a crazy plan. At least not as crazy as everyone is making it out to be.