Three days after the shocking draft pick crashed into other NFL franchise war rooms like a wrecking ball coming through an adjacent wall, the Atlanta Falcons’ rationale for selecting Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 overall has been cemented.
The question now is what it means for the remainder of Kirk Cousins’ career.
Publicly and privately, the Falcons’ messaging surrounding their selection of Penix less than two months after signing Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal are some version of this: Penix has a rare talent that Atlanta believes it will need sooner or later, so the franchise took him while it still had the chance. And the most important part of that decision: team owner Arthur Blank signed off on it. This is what multiple sources with knowledge of the decision told Yahoo Sports, including those aligned with the Falcons, Penix and Cousins, whose career has now seemingly been locked into a countdown in Atlanta.
Gone is the notion that Blank was somehow in the dark when it came to the Falcons’ plans to target Penix, which became a point of vague speculation after general manager Terry Fontenot was captured on Atlanta’s war room video feed having an animated discussion with the club owner following the pick.
In the midst of the moment, it looked like Fontenot might be explaining the stunning selection to Blank, particularly to the outside world and some other NFL teams that never saw the pick coming. That attitude was best encapsulated by one personnel source who texted a six-word question during the draft.
“Is Terry trying to get fired?”
No, Fontenot wasn’t trying to get fired. And no, Blank wasn’t in the dark.
What that feed of Fontenot’s animated post-pick conversation with Blank failed to show was what happened in Atlanta’s war room moments earlier. Specifically, Blank sitting with Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris as they called Penix to congratulate him on the selection, and Blank taking the phone at one point and telling the…
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