FLOWERY BRANCH — After the first round of the NFL draft was over, Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot and coach Raheem Morris shed some insight early Friday morning on the decision to draft quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eight overall pick.
Former Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said he thought Penix should be drafted in the 20 to 25 range when appearing on a 92.9 The Game on Wednesday.
Former New England coach Bill Belichick, appearing on ESPN, said he felt the Falcons could have traded back and still drafted Penix.
But the Falcons were fine with taking Penix with the eighth pick and bypassing some of the top defenders and top pass-catchers in the draft.
“When you can add a high-caliber player like that, with his intangibles, those tools,” Fontenot said. “He’s a winner. I’m very, very excited. You don’t pass up that opportunity.”
It was a shocking move because the Falcons signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins in free agency to a four-year contract worth up to $180 million.
“Kirk Cousins is our quarterback,” Fontenot said. “We’re excited about Kirk. We’re very excited about this team and (with) Michael Penix, we’re talking about the future. If you look at the future and big picture. We are very excited about that quarterback (group). Again, Kirk is our quarterback. But adding Michael Penix is (us) thinking about the future.”
The Falcons went to Seattle to hold a private workout with the former University of Washington quarterback April 5.
“Every exposure with Penix, we were very excited about it,” Fontenot said. “Look, if you look at his history, he’s been through some things (over) his career. The injuries he went through earlier in his career. Being able to bounce back and do the things he was able to do at the University of Washington.”
The Falcons were expected by most of the draft analysts to take an edge rusher with the eighth overall pick. Wide receiver Rome Odunze, also from Washington, went to the Bears on the following pick.
Quarterback Bo Nix, who played at Auburn and Oregon, went to the Broncos with the 12th pick. The Falcons also passed on former Georgia tight end Brock Browers, who went to the Raiders with the 13th overall pick.
Defensive end Laiatu Latu went 15th to the Colts. Defensive tackle Bryon Murphy went 16th to Seattle and outside linebacker Dallas Turner went to the Vikings with the 17th pick.
“It was pretty simple for us,” Morris said. “When you get Kirk Cousins and you talk about short-term winning, we are talking about winning right now, which we know that we are going to be in a position (to do). We won’t have the ability to be picking this high again with the guy that we got and these guys go off the board pretty quickly.”
The Falcons wanted to draft a quarterback while they had a quarterback. They didn’t want to relive the transition from Matt Ryan which saw them try to play with Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder over the past two seasons.
“We thought it would be important for us to address our future quarterback right now, when we are picking this low in these moments,” Morris said. “Be able to move forward. Fortunately for us, we’ve got a Kirk Cousins in the building. We got a guy who can go out there and win football games.”
Morris is not shying away from expectations.
“We are talking about winning the (NFC) South, doing these things, that include going to the playoffs,” Morris said. “We just saw six quarterbacks go off the board before the 12th pick in the draft. We don’t want to be picking down here anymore. We don’t want to be back in that position. Let’s move forward.”
Cousins was shocked by the move. The Falcons did not call him and tell him about the plans to draft Penix until they were on the clock.
Fontenot and Morris said that Cousins’ response was “private.”
Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts was on a livestream on Bleacher Report and gave his response to the move.
“That’s a slinger right there, man,” Pitts said of Penix.
The two have crossed paths.
“As a younger guy who loves to hang around older people, I think this is great for him to learn from such a professional like Kirk and see how he operates in the building on and off the field,” Pitts said. “He’s a great young player. I know a couple of his friends. He’s from the Tampa area, so we’ve been watching him since (Indiana) and at Washington. I can’t wait to get him in the building. I like this one.”
Pitts was surprised by the move.
“I’m very shocked,” Pitts said. “I’m not going to lie. I did think we were going defense. I’m not going to lie. But that definitely kind of changes up the dynamic.”
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