Atlanta Falcons’ Executive Reveals Team’s Long-Term Plan

The Atlanta Falcons stirred a lot of controversy when they selected University of Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick of the NFL Draft last week.

Why would the Falcons take Penix with their top draft choice when they just signed Kirk Cousins to a massive four-year, $180 million contract in March?

It’s a question that many have been asking following Atlanta’s puzzling decision, but assistant general manager Kyle Smith laid out the club’s plan this week.

“For the next five years, we feel great about the position. Minimum,” Smith said, via Terrin Waack of the Falcons’ official team website.

Smith added that he didn’t want the team to repeat its situation from a few years ago after long-time signal-caller Matt Ryan departed.

“It was an unsettling feeling, sitting there in ’21,” Smith said. “I’ll never forget sitting there with (GM) Terry (Fontenot) and being like, ‘okay, well, what’s our future? What’s our plan for the future? How are we going to solidify down the road?’ It’s not just about this year or next year. It’s about five years minimum.”

That’s all well and good, but Penix is already 24 years old. If Cousins fulfills his entire contract, that would mean Penix would be 28 when he finally gets the chance to start.

Not only does that seem unusual, but it also seems somewhat unfair to Penix, who probably would have had the chance to start immediately had another team drafted him.

But Smith and the Falcons are thinking of the future of the franchise, and they like what they see in Penix.

“This is the first year that we were sitting there and staring down the barrel at a player that we think can be that guy,” Smith said.

Penix is coming off of a 2023 campaign in which he threw for 4,903 yards, 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while completing 65.4 percent of his throws. He finished second in Heisman Trophy voting and led Washington all the way to the national title game, where it fell to Michigan.

We’ll see if Atlanta’s decision to draft Penix pays off for both sides in the end.