Rich Eisen: Is the Falcons’ Penix/Cousins Controversy the Same as Packers’ Love/Rodgers Situation? 

That depends on if Penix works out.

@Malackheethis is not a home run pick. if it were there wouldn't be any reason to get a QB in free agency. Many QBs were a reach for in the first round. Penix will have a better career than McCarthy mark my words on that, but to not need a QB and use their "pick a starter" pick on someone they want to sit for multiple years is a horrible idea.

Would've felt the same way if they'd only drafted Penix and not signed Cousins.

@@ludacrisisjakes6672 It is a homerun pick, FA goes BEFORE the draft. This was a top QB draft class and we'll officially know in 3 or 4 years. ATL does need a QB, 2-4 years from now and they have theirs for the next 15 years with tons of weapons and a OL waiting for him. Don't need a QB? FOR THE MOMENT. ATL is taking care of that NOW. People said the same thing about Packers taking Rdogers and Packers taking Love

everyone knows the 4th QB drafted is the best one in every draft. Falcons used that 8th overall pick very wisely

it will not... save that message for december.

@@fabriziobettoni2547why it won’t ? That group think is wild

Two things can be true :)

@@fabriziobettoni2547 no one will know if it works out until penix takes the field. so December isn't a good call.

@@hookedonfunknics2477Exactly what a weird thing to say. The only thing we could know that soon is if it works not if it doesn’t if Penix takes over as is amazing

The defense wasn’t the issue in the second half of the 2020 nfc championship game. It was the offense and who knows what would’ve happened if the Packers took a wr in the first round.

@@BattlefrontBomberit wouldn’t have mattered Rodgers only threw to Adams

Are we going to act like the falcons are a player away?

@@BattlefrontBomberif we wanted to get super specific I would say it was more of an offensive line failure in the second half of the buccaneers game since that was right after Bahktiari destroyed his knee

@@aztronomy7457 Good point, I think the Falcons are just trying to get back to relevancy. I think their goal with Kirk over the next couple years is winning the NFC South, get the momentum rolling and then switch to someone like Penix and start thinking about the SB. But back to the topic of GB when they had Rodgers, looking back now they should have been making moves to get back to and possibly win the SB while they had him.

Then why did they sign Kirk?

Absolutely. And in hindsight there isn’t a single player the Packers could have drafted in 2010 that would have put them over the edge. It’s such a dumb take

Still, Why pay Cousins all that money and draft Penix if you dont have a team that can contend this year? The whole point of taking a rookie QB is you dont have to pay him a big deal for years so you can focus on other positions.

@@Eaglesfan220 Well the whole point of having a veteran QB that's a proven Regular Season winner and a drafted QB with the potential to be even better, for the next several years, they can solely focus on all the other positions. How is this so hard to understand.

@@natureredux1957 Than why draft the oldest QB prospect in the draft and with an early pick. Penix will be 26 or 27 when he starts, If he does play earlier you will have the most expensive backup QB in NFL history. Also cousins is coming off a major injury and he had Jefferson in Minnesota so no guarantees he will be the same QB.

@@Eaglesfan220 Penix will be 26/27 without hardly a scratch on him if Kirk plays the next 2yrs. So I have no idea why that's even a talking point. Plus he will get to LEARN as opposed to far too many QBs being thrown into the Fire and ruined for life. Just about all the top QB were 23/24 due to the Covid thing. Nor is a 2 yr difference a big thing other then the older guys should be more mentally mature, so how is that even a bad thing.

@@natureredux1957 Getting back to my main point. Answer this honestly, Do you think the Falcons are major contenders for the Super Bowl this year and next with Cousins?

Exactly. There’s a ton of “ifs” in this world. Some bigger than others, and in the case of Rodgers winning another title in Green Bay, that’s a gigantic “if”

Yeah he wet the bed with his 345 yards 3 tds. Totally had nothing to do with the awful defense giving up 31 points at home

I can guarantee he's upset that his Michigan golden boy JJ McCarthy went after Penix in the draft

What if Penix turns out to be as bad as Zach Wilson?

@@LemTurner Penix struggled in the Natty game when he faced a defense that will be similar to what he will face on Sundays (once he finally plays). I think he will figure it out though, problem is it may be another 2-3 years before he starts. I was hoping to see him play this year, as of now it's dependent on Cousins.

so many people use the word cry so vaguely.

​@@user-en9qd5nx8w At which point he will be 42 years old. (Joke)

Here's the thing... it doesn't have to make sense to you. Or me. We're all just biased observers.

It does tho Kirk is in his mid 30s coming off an Achilles injury and has 1 playoff win in a decade

Exactly my point

Doesn't matter because Falcons fans will be screaming to start Penix in no time cause Cousins has no connection to the fanbase like Rodgers did in Green Bay. There wasn't going to be pressure of a QB controversy from the outside but in Atlanta there will be. This isn't the same situation. It's financially incompetent when they could have signed cheaper bridge QBs.

@@qaxcgyujm they still wanna be competitive rn. They had to pay Kirk

rich is getting too old.... yeah, favre and rodgers already got a SB win, more than 10 years with the team, owning the team basically, the fanbase and the players. Kirk? .... his big football accomplishment as a Falcon is throwing one football on a tennis court.

That's not the point, obviously. No, Eisen wasn't making believe that Cousins = Rodgers, or that the 2020 Packers = 2024 Falcons. The only comparison was using a top draft pick on a future QB with a ready now team set at QB.

When it turns out to be true.

exactly and we had Rodgers for so long and he didn't always play great in the playoffs...So after awhile you just say lets see if we can reset

The fanbase also was in Rodgers/Favres corner through most of it so there was never going to be pressure for a QB controversy from the outside. I've already been seeing comments from Falcons fans screaming for Penix to start. They're gonna start booing Cousins and chanting for Penix in no time. It's financially incompetent that they signed that much just to use Cousins solely as a bridge QB.

@@qaxcgyujm The fans aren't gonna boo Kirk when they are winning games. Kirk led the Vikings to a 13-4 season in 2022 despite having a 28th ranked run game and a 31st ranked defense. And this is why players want guaranteed contracts!!! The money isn’t the issue and goes beyond that. The whole time that the Falcons are telling Kirk that he’s the guy, they were lying to him (about that long term contract) which was the reason that he signed here in the first place. And all along they were wanting to draft a first rounder in Penix and basically planned to make Kirk a bridge quarterback. Kirk has said several times that structure is more important than the money. Kirk didn't stay with the Vikings because they basically offered him a one year contract (which is management speak for we like you but don't love you). You can bet that had the Falcons been honest, Kirk would have never signed here in the first place. I still don’t understand why they didn’t just get a bridge quarterback for a one year deal. In his first team meeting, Morris talked about how important communication is and they don’t tell Kirk that they are picking Penix until they were on the clock? The NFL is a business but what the Falcons did was pretty despicable. Everybody talks about how Penix feels and all I can think is poor Kirk.

Then why did they sign Kirk to a 100M contract?

The 2020 and 2021 draft classes for GB were not that good either. Aside from Love and potentially Stokes (and that’s a big if), those classes did not produce. If Gutekunst drafted then like he does now, the Packers could’ve had both 🤷🏻‍♂️

@@Sammy50599na

As a pack fan myself, give me the second superbowl. We've been in the mix since 2010 and never made it back. I just wished we would've went all in one of Rodgers' later years with us.

They could've traded up for JJ i mean can't say he wouldn't have made a difference

@@Christian2496529 why doesn't every team just trade up for the best player every year?

Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman were two WRs available at the top of the 2nd.

Tee didn’t help the Bengals win the SB.

@@nathanbrager9894Pittman really only recently started makin noise and tee Higgins got demoted to wr2 by a younger dude and the packers lost by 5 points our star players costed them 14 🤦🏾‍♂️☠️

If you're not a player away, then why sign Cousins at all?

I think the packers were at minimum one top weapon away from making it to the superbowl

@@matriculatethefootballWhy did the Vikings sign Cousins at all? He was the best FA QB on the market. They went the mediocre backup QB route before. It was no one better than him available in FA. You foolishly think every year teams should go in to win a Super Bowl if they don’t have a Super Bowl roster? It’s a 2 year deal that they could even turn into a 1 year deal through trade

Man this is the best I felt for my team in a while 😊

Our team

this was the real crime

A fair take

You created a straw man. They signed Cousins to make team as competitive as possible in 2024 and 2025 while building a winning culture. The QB of future is going to be ready to take over when they have enough pieces to build a championship. Y’all act like they gave up multiple draft picks for Penix. They spent one pick. And if you think Dallas Turner is diff in Falcons going to Super Bowl next year, you’re insane

Stop saying brady model. Brady was the biggest star in football its alot easier to take a paycut when u have the endorsements he does.

Remains to be see who is and isn't great. Every draft is full of sure fire can't miss players that miss

@@adrianalley700 the point is, there was an opportunity to snag a top prospect at a position that they absolutely needed. But picked a qb after signing a qb in the off-season for an insane amount of money.

@@taylorbates5669 yeah I get that and my initial reaction was disappointment but after thinking about it a day or so I'd rather be looking for that extra piece to add than being in QB wilderness again.

@@adrianalley700 I hope you’re right, but he wasn’t a top qb from this draft. It was a reach to take him this high. At least I think so. Just an all around head scratcher to me.

@@taylorbates5669I’m sure you weren’t high on Lamar in draft either, neither with Russell Wilson, etc. Ppl don’t know how to evaluate certain type of QBs even when it’s blatantly obvious they are far better than guys rated ahead of them. Penix Jr has one of the greatest arm talents ever and his weakness of mobility is a myth as he quietly has 4.5 speed that he just hasn’t shown off the last 2 years

Bak going down was the different between imo

Rodgers had several years left on his deal...

Yeah...you wouldn't be saying that if your team had no Super Bowls.

I think if it was a 20,21, or even 22 year old the reaction wouldn't be this visceral kirk is locked in at least 2 years which means penix will be 26 the first time he starts barring injury or a cousins collapse (which is an even worse look for the falcons) people are overreacting but it was a bad move that sends mixed signals people can rightfully criticize it

@@LC-ue1jh but why does the age matter so much? Especially for a QB. That’s the most protected position in football and Penix could easily play 6-8 years. Also we were the favorites to win the NFC south the moment we got Kirk Cousins. So because we didn’t draft an edge rusher but instead got our future QB (the most important position in football) and succession plan in place we drop from being the favorites? I don’t think so. The QB position has hurt this team for many years and everyone knows that but they’re being bashed for doing something to make it better 🤷🏾‍♂️

@Sertonius a qb you only get 6-8 years out of and only 2 years of his rookie deal out of before the first big contract at 28 is less than ideal a qb who spent 6 years in college on top of that is already close to their ceiling and yes 1st round players usually have big impacts as rookies so buccaneers getting the top interior lineman saints getting a top rated LT are worth alot more than a backup qb that's not even something that should be a topic of discussion that's such a given?

@@LC-ue1jh I’ll take 6-8 years of not having to worry about the most important position in football over drafting a “top-tier” offensive linemen. If the starters on both of those teams go down their seasons are DONE even with those “top-tier” linemen. The “backup” you’re referring to is not the normal backup. There’s a reason teams were willing to trade of for him 😎 Our starter goes down we still have a chance to win our division. Who cares about the money and the rookie contract if you winning? NOBODY 😂😂

Where is 6-8 years coming from? 10-12 (puts him 36-38) is more accurate if he ends up being good. Draft and develop the kid...