Michael Penix Jr. pick sets ‘weird vibe’ for Kirk Cousins, Falcons | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC

PFT reacts to the Falcons’ stunning decision to select QB Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 overall, highlighting why the pick instantly ends the honeymoon between Kirk Cousins and Atlanta. #NBCSports #ProFootballTalk #NFLDraft
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Michael Penix Jr. pick sets ‘weird vibe’ for Kirk Cousins, Falcons | Pro Football Talk | NFL on NBC
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the surprise
was that pennx got into the top 10 and
went before JJ McCarthy and you know one
of the things that we said yesterday
penx was the guy that when someone took
him it was going to be an O crap moment
that that was going to be I said this
yesterday the first oh moment of
the draft sorry every community in the
UK was when Michael penck went and it
was that was the first surprise
everything was kind of chalk chalk chalk
chalk chalk and then boom the Falcons
drop the first bomb of the night and the
biggest bomb of the Night by taking
Michael Pennock Jr when they just gave
$100 million guaranteed as a practical
matter to Kirk Cousins what was your
reaction when you heard the commissioner
say Michael penck Jr you know I’m not an
Insider so I’m thinking there’s no way
Atlanta goes quarterback and then after
I saw people talking about well this was
always a possib
that they would get a quarterback in the
draft I’m thinking you give somebody
$180 million contract that this is the
guy you’re going to ride out with you
know what is it 100 guaranteed on that
whatever you want I’m thinking you’re
this is our guy of the future how do we
get better right now we’re in the NFC
South Tampa won it last year they gotta
feel like they’re not far off so I’m
thinking you know everyone was talking
about they’re going to go get a pass
rusher so I’m thinking Dallas Turner is
going to Atlanta and he’s going to bring
bring in that pass rush is going to make
the defense a little bit better Jesse
Bates had a big year coming in and free
safety so I’m like this team continues
to build they got kurk cousins there’s a
vision there and then you hear they were
like you know we want to find a guy
that’s a culture fit and you look at
Michael penck Jr it just has the vibe
and feelings that he could be the
quarterback of the future for the
Atlanta Falcons he can be that and then
I saw everything with Kurt Cousins and
his agent saying he was shocked and
disappointed and I was like well that’s
not a good start for a team with a guy
coming off AES injury coming off an
Achilles an older quarterback a young
guy that comes in now now I’m sitting
here like well what is the future is
Kurt Cousins there for a year maybe two
years a year and a half to kind of be
the example because Kurt Cousins all
you’ve ever heard about his time in the
NFL is he’s a great guy he’s a leader he
does so it’s like do they just want him
to learn and then he’s going to go play
sooner than we think so that did that
caught me way off guard I just did not
see that um but enjoyed watching Michael
penck Jr I know his injury history and
all of that but it just feels like if he
can sit for a little while and then get
out there and play he can be as
impressive as he was in Washington for
those two
seasons immediately after the pick was
made Devon there were scattered reports
that emerged attributed to unnamed
sources about how surprised Kirk Cousins
was by the move and they were popping up
like mushrooms in the middle of
summertime uh that’s I don’t know how
good of a metaphor that is but just move
on uh you know sometimes sometimes they
work bro and sometimes they don’t so um
but but uh what was my point oh here’s
my point eventually Mike McCartney who
represents Kirk Cousins goes on the
record like you know he he’s he’s
leaking and leaking and leaking and not
putting his name to it and I think at
some point he finally got sufficiently
dismayed and pissed off and he was
probably dealing with a client who was
sufficiently dismayed and pissed off
that that it’s time to go on the record
it’s time to make it known and here’s
what Mike McCartney told Mike garolo of
NFL media yes it was a big surprise we
had no idea this was coming the truth is
the whole league had no idea this was
coming we got no heads up Kirk got a
call from the Falcons when they were on
the clock that was the first we heard it
never came up in any conversation that’s
a wow quote that’s a that’s a hey you
know what what are you going to do fire
me you gave me 90 million fully
guaranteed next 10 million is going to
become fully guaranteed by next march I
can say whatever I want and I don’t like
this now I got some things to say about
that first of all first of
all the truth is the whole league had no
idea this was coming that that’s just
incorrect we talked about it yesterday
we mentioned yesterday that that’s where
the the woe could happen that the
Falcons could take him at eight because
they brought him in for a visit teams do
not waste their time bringing in like
there’s no smoke screen to be deployed
by the Falcons to bring in Michael penck
Jr for a visit that’s why I said the
Steelers would have been in play if he’
Fallen to 20 the Steelers don’t bring a
guy in just to screw with him and to
waste their time you got too much to do
in the run up to the draft so uh but but
still still the the reason to be pissed
is exactly what you
said aren’t we trying to win aren’t we I
mean this is the eighth overall pick you
could add any defensive player you
wanted you could have gotten a tackle to
to keep me upright because we know that
kurk cousins can’t do anything off
schedule the walls close in and the
play’s over if the play that’s designed
isn’t there so that’s what’s got to be
frustrating that’s why I think Aaron
Rogers and hey at least you got the
phone call Aaron Rogers didn’t get the
courtesy of the phone call four years
ago he’s sitting there watching the
draft on TV and they say the Packers
select Jordan love he’s like what the
hell is this so uhy you know what the
honeymoon’s over Devin when you’re
giving a guy when you’re giving a guy
that much money and you got draft picks
to make you know maybe he’s wishing in
hindsight that the NFL had finished the
tampering investigation and taken away
the Falcons eighth overall pick last
night because it’s got the same effect
as it relates to helping Kirk Cousins do
anything in Atlanta and it was
interesting because even watching what
they released late last night or early
this morning the video where Raheem
Morris is on the phone and he said what
you just said hey man we didn’t fly all
the way out to the West Coast in
Washington for nothing when we came out
there we were evaluating you we knew if
you’re there we were taking you so I
just think I just think it’s a bad start
for team building whatever you want to
call the kurk cousins free agent signing
and what it did for the team and the
belief of moving on from what you had
last year I just think it creates this
weird vibe you know even in New England
when we had Cam Newton and that was
totally different than p got 100 million
guaranteed and then we draft M Jones
because I know the the whole defensive
side and all of training camp was who’s
going to start some of the guys is like
man we should still go with Cam what he
can bring and then some of the guys are
like well you know if we watch Mack in
practice he looks like he’s going to be
a guy that’s not going to play like a
rookie seems smart so you have all these
back and forth conversations so now
you’re going to get the number eighth
pick coming into your building and then
Kurt Cousins is going to be still coming
off this injury so I’m sure he’s going
to have some good days some bad days I
just think they’re going to have a lot
of back and forth of guys in that locker
room saying who they kind of want to
each other and I think they’re gonna
have to be on top of that I think Raheem
Morris is a guy that’s gonna be able to
connect with this team and build and
he’s an honest upfront straight shooter
so I think that’s going to help but I
can just see some like weird Vibes going
on around this team especially if it if
they don’t get off to a good start and
it doesn’t look good early whether
that’s training camp preseason games
early in the season is going to create
some kind of dismay I can see in the
locker room which will be a little
awkward Devin that’s an excellent point
and how many times have we seen that
play out and and you create that
environment by bringing in with the
eightth overall pick a
quarterback how many years is he going
to sit what’s he over under two do do
they just move on from cousins after
2025 and say Michael penx is ready how
many years do you put Michael penx on
the bench when the Packers put Jordan
love on the bench for 3 years you know
people were like when’s this guy going
to get a chance hell for the guys taken
in
2021 three years later they’re traded
away for nothing all go four of the Five
Guys taken in the top 15 and Michael
penck if everything goes the way it’s
supposed to with Kirk Cousins Michael
penck isn’t going to play at all I think
what it just does it undermines the vibe
that they were building and if you’ve
got veterans on that team and every
team’s got veterans the veterans are
going to be thinking what what are we
doing here are we trying to win now what
are we trying to do here we had the
eighth overall pick for the third
straight year they go from Kyle pittz it
may have been the fourth straight year
they had Kyle pittz I can’t remember
when they got Drake London but then they
get bejon Robinson they got the eighth
overall pick again and let’s get a guy
how about on defense it’s going to help
us not just get to the playoffs getting
to the playoffs is the easy part if
you’re in the NFC South respect to the
other teams the hard part is winning in
the postseason you need pass rush to win
in the postseason you got to put heat on
the opposing quarterbacks especially if
you have any designs to win a Super Bowl
against Patrick Mahomes you better be
able to get to him oh well yeah we could
have had any pass rusher we wanted we
went with a guy who everything goes the
way is Planned is never gonna play we
got a guy on the bench great name great
Prospect great future but he’s not going
to help us right now
yeah and so that that’s why I can
understand the dismay if I’m a Falcons
fan I don’t know what to think if I’m
Kirk Cousins hey and this is the other
side of it
too and and I I mentioned this from time
to time kind of sarcastically you didn’t
know I was that way did you Devon you’ve
never that for me but little bit you
know but but you know last year on that
Netflix quarterback series cousins makes
the big deal and you and I have talked
about this before he doesn’t work on
Tuesdays during football season when
it’s a Sunday to Sunday schedule I got a
feeling I got a feeling he’s going to be
working on Tuesdays now because you know
who is going to be there on Tuesdays you
know who’s going to be there on Tuesdays
Michael penx Jr is going to be there on
Tuesdays because Michael penx Jr is
going to be doing everything he can to
prove himself to the Atlanta Falcons
that he’s ready to play now I mean yeah
he’ll say all the right things I
understand I understand I have to sit I
don’t want to and I’m going to I mean
that’s how Tom Brady was in New England
he goes in there as the fifth guy on the
dep chart and he’s determined to win the
starting job and keep the starting job
and that’s how penx is going to be so it
just it there was just a nice satisfying
glow coming from the Falcons and now
it’s like what’s going on and if it does
make cousins as as Chris would say it’s
the red hot poker on cousins to get him
to really go all in with his time with
his effort with his dedication with
everything he needs to do
then you it may may ruffle some feathers
but it’s going to help the Falcons be
better than they would have been
potentially and I love that you brought
up Brady because I was watching the the
Pat McAfee show last night because Bill
bich was on there and Pat goes to Bill
well you know Kurt Cousins and he showed
the tweet from somebody else I think it
was still just reported at the time that
he was disappointed and shocked and he
was like but Bill they’re paying a guy
hundred and something million dollars
like they’re not going to sit him and he
kind of pauses because Bill doesn’t say
anything at first and then it Dawns on
Pat he was like oh you’re the guy
you benched Drew bledo h100
million and Bill said it he said when
you get a guy like this in the building
it’s competition so you’re gonna play
the guy that you think is going to give
you the best chance to win and
ultimately that’s what it came down to
mid-season we go to Brady and yes he
gets hurt in the playoff game but we
still felt like he gave us the best
chance to win and that’s what’s going to
come for the Falcons at some time you
know Raheem Morris goes over there they
bring Zack Robinson in there Zack
Robinson got drafted to the Patriots the
same year as I did then he’s in you know
in LA with Shawn McVey they got rid of
Jared G as they went to the Super Bowl
and loss and said hey he’s not the guy
that we need here we’re going to go get
Matt Stafford so he still comes a little
bit from that background of the guy that
gives us the best chance to win is going
to play so I just thought it was
interesting last night hearing that cuz
I think the average person just like me
is like well this is going to be down
the road because Kurt Cousins is the guy
now because of what they’re paying him
and the truth is when you’re a head
coach and you’re not in charge of making
those GM
decisions you might sit there and say
hey my job is on the line and I’m gonna
go with my gut now I think Michael penck
Jr right now gives us the best chance
because Kurt Cousins an older
quarterback he tours Achilles maybe he
doesn’t look the same same thing they
said with Drew blo Ernie Adams is on the
dynasty documentary saying you know he
had got hit a lot he wasn’t the same
quarterback that we watched that was
standing there and throw the ball he was
a little worried about the rush so they
evaluated him that way and said hey
let’s get this young guy in there so I
think that could happen with this
Atlanta team and if it does happen like
that it happens earlier than we think
then for Kurt Cousins that’s going to be
a shock because we know during the
season when we brought that up Mike was
all against he was like the best
quarterbacks work on Tuesday and I was
the former player who was like I kind of
like that he spends time with his family
and I understand both sides of it
because it comes down to spend as much
time with your family you want let’s win
challenge flag challenge flag I I made a
beline for you when we met in Canton Y
and I said this Kirk cousin’s not
working on Tuesday what would Tom Brady
say about that and you were like Tom
was yeah right
so but yeah exactly I remember that but
but if you want to be if you want to be
the guy that can do this with all the
rings on your hands you got to be there
you you have to what Brady said at one
point and I’m paraphrasing and I’m
probably going to get the the specifics
wrong if you want to beat me you have to
give your life over to this because I
have the guy used you got give your
entire life over to it he would sleep at
the facility if we got back late instead
of driving home he would just go to the
facility take a couple hours so he could
wake up and get to treatment at 5:00
a.m. or 5:30 in the morning and start
for the next week the guy I mean I heard
Kobe Bryant speak one time and he said
to be great in basketball I knew I had
to sacrifice being a better husband a
better dad a better son and you sit
there and you’re like damn that that
sounds crazy but it’s the truth like all
the guys who have rare greatness and hit
levels that are you know unprecedent to
everybody else they’re psychos like
that’s the only way to describe them
they’re they’re just psychos so that’s
not meant for everybody body and like
you just said Kurt Cousins is going to
have to look across the room now and he
might run into a guy who’s a little bit
of a psycho who’s going to be pushing
him and now it turns into well what are
you going to do because at some level he
could say I’m GNA collect this H hundred
million dollars it is what it is and I’m
going to continue to do my routine and
do what I think is best for myself hi
it’s Mike Florio thanks for watching PFT
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