The MMQB’s Albert Breer: Why the Falcons Drafted Michael Penix Jr. | The Rich Eisen Show 

Rich is a Jets fan. Falcons are doing what the Jets should have done for the past decade.

Always remember you know so much more about your local team then any national guy with a microphone

Rich is acting like the guaranteed money through 2025 wasn’t a huge deal for Cousins.

How are the Saints (sans Brees), how are the Broncos (sans Manning) and the Patriots (sans Brady) doing now? No succession plan in place and they suck? How are the Cheifs (sans Alex Smith), how are the Packers (sans Rogers) doing? Oh they're doing pretty good. Why in the world did the Falcons draft Penix? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm I can't figure it out.

How can Rich Eisen still be hung up on this. Cousins is old, he is coming off a major injury. They will more than likely need a new qb in one to two years if they are lucky. This might end up being the best pick in the draft. There was not a single player that would have been the difference to making them seen as a true contender with Cousins under center who, while is a fine qb, has a history of disappearing when the lights get a little bright. They have a chance to win short term, and they are prepared long term. Far better than his jets could say. Honestly the question should be why didn't the Jets get one of these qbs?

Time to get over it Rich

The Falcons did it because they didn't want to be this season's Jets. Everyone hammered the Jets for having all their eggs in one basket with an older QB and no back up plan. Now everyone is hammering the Falcons for having an older QB coming off a major injury, and giving themselves a plan B.

What I will say as a die Falcon…I didn’t like it at the draft. I love it after. Kirk(who I didn’t want) will make sure we don’t miss the playoffs, and penix will learn under him. I would much rather have penix, than have taken a position WR like Rome when we have Pitts, London and Bijan, remember there’s only one football. Plus it’s easier to find a receiver or Edge rusher than a worthy franchise QB and a lot cheaper to add those pieces. I love it now and I feel better as fan knowing I won’t have to go through 3 more seasons of terrible QB play costing us games for the next 8 seasons. Ask any of these teams that don’t have one QB how they feel about Levi’s, and Pickett, minshew, etc. and see if they would be happy to not have to worry about going through that again.

So tired of hiring Rich response on this topic. Rich is one of the guys who thought Jets were going to the super bow after giving Rogers a big contract only to see they had no Plan B when he got hurt.

I'm confused as to why this is still so confusing. It makes perfect sense. Multiple teams have already done this before.

I'm not a Falcons fan at all but Rich and this campaign about the Penix pick is becoming excessive at this point. Cousins coming off of a Achilles injury, being old and only having 1 playoff win is enough for me to justify the pick!!!

Why would they tell Cousins ahead of time? What if Penix is gone by 8 and now you have pissed off your starting QB for no reason

We’re still talking about this??

Just because somethings been done a certain way for a long time doesn't mean it's the only way.

It was a good pick. Get over it!

Rich - as much as you have said “it makes no sense” in the past 3 weeks it actually makes perfect sense if you assume the #1 priority of the Falcons is to never be without a franchise caliber QB. It is more important for them to never be without a franchise QB over the immediate chance to make a playoff run in the next 2 years. Basically, they don’t think Cousins will take them to the Super Bowl but perhaps Penix will in 3 to 5 years.

Why are we still talking about this?! They planned ahead. stop it.

Rich let it go already , would yall imagine if it was his dear boy J.J he would be Livid 😂

Why should a QBs feelings get in the way of an organizations long term plan? 😅

As a Saints fan I will constantly cringe at the fact we were 1 pick away from Patrick Mahomes smdh

I actually love that y’all still talking about us over one pick

It makes a TON of sense. cousins is not the answer. He’s better than a bridge and $50 mill is going rate for average

Bruh lmaooo he won’t shut up about this. My lord I guess it’s wrong for a team to plan ahead. He acting like Kirk Cousins is Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers. They know Kirk ain’t bout to be there longer than 2 years and he may end up having them to high in the draft to get a top QB in the next 2 years.

Look... Penix is generational talent. Guys like him don't come around often. Don't be surprised five years from now when he's the most successful from this class. Cousins keeps his job as long as he wins. If he can't take them to the playoffs this year, I expect Penix will start in 2025. The brass with the Falcons know all this. It's the plan. They don't care about Cousins' salary. Of course, If Cousins does great and they win, he'll keep his job. But he's on the clock.

LOL The Falcons told Cousins that they were going to draft a QB. They just left out the part about it being in the first round.

What he leaving out about that 3rd year is that if they cut kirk that it will only be 10m..why do they always leave out the stuff that will kill the narrative they trying to push

The Falcon’s should offer Cousins a buy out and admit they shouldn’t have signed him. 40 to 50 million and he gets cut, all the cap hit this year and he is free to sign somewhere that wants him. No offset language so he can double dip this year. At least talking about who might sign him could be fun for the show.

A great point to mention about 8:00 is people will say well that’s how Green Bay did it and it worked out fine for them, well, the also drafted perennial all pro players that could make up for not having a rookie contract qb by being SO GOOD that they elevate the entire team. That’s not a formula that’s easy to replicate. From what I saw from Love last year he looked really bad or mediocre (I missed a few games and all the sudden people are saying he’s elite?).

As a FAlcons fan, I so glad Aints missed out on Mahomes. Talk about dodging a bullet. They lost on Mahomes and missed on Lamar Jackson in BACK TO BACK drafts, Payton left, and you have some doubters out there wondering why ATL took Pennix JR? SMH

I haaaaaattted this pick, when it happened (bc I'm a fan, so I'm impulsive and reactionary). It's really grown on me, over the last two weeks. I'd rather "swing for the fences" and potentially have our next franchise qb, even if it means we whiff and more-or-less burn our first round selection. If you're going to swing big, do it on a really good quarterback. Besides, I'm not naive enough to think that the Falcons are one good pass-rusher away from winning a Super Bowl.

Does Rich think Falcons were winning a SB if they didn't draft a QB 😅

Rich Eisen is a sneaky fellow. I see you not dumb 😂😂😂

They speak as if the Falcons Brass didn’t take all that into consideration.

No, Kirk left because he’s all about that almighty dollar.

It's been 2 weeks and Rich is still tripping. At this point, I'm guessing he was secretly hoping the Jets would choose Penix instead of trying to convince everyone the Jets needed to pick Brock Bowers.

Things "went haywire two years ago" because the owner got out of his lane...

I like the pick. And the reality is they cant and wont explain it. IMO they possibly got the best QB in the draft. And they have a pro bowl caliber QB. In a QB poor market, where teams are going all in for a QB year after year, boom or bust. Dont be surprised if Cousins or Penix are traded for a slew of picks and players. Lets say Dak goes down week two, boom. You fleece the cowboys. I feel bad for both QBs, and the Falcons team that likely could use a 1st round caliber player. But its business. And this was one of those business moves that may be low risk high reward. From Rich's point of view(NFL as a whole) having Penix go to a team that needed a QB was more fun and better business for the shield.

Who gives a fuk about how Kiek felt. He's getting paid so he can shut up and play. He's done nothing for this task to warrant being told

Which franchise took a QB in the first round when they had an ageing QB (twice!) and have had the position set for over 30 years? The Green Bay Packers. It makes sense to do this. Please for the love of all that is holy shut up Rich. You are embarrassing yourself on this one.

A rich. Move on.. our coach , GM, and AGM have told their reasoning .. to most Kirk is not a great QB and he is paid to stabilize our QB situation . We hope Mike takeover next year and Kirk can be traded cuz we only owe him 27 million. So we are good. Thanks for your concerns but we don’t need it 🙋🏾‍♂️

The only way this looks good on Atlanta is if cousins can stay healthy or doesn’t do well.

i don't see much risk of penix being the next mahomes

Kirk left because they wouldn’t guarantee the money not because they drafted a qb. If they paid him for the money or the guaranteed years he would’ve stayed no matter who they picked.

Rich is acting as if Kirk is Tom Brady or somebody. But the truth is. If the Cowboys did this or anything other mainstream team did it. Rich would be acting like this was the best move ever but, since its the falcons he's going out his way to down it.

There are no cap ramifications after one year. They will still owe an additional 50 million, but it will not count against the cap. So Penix will sit one or two years. If Cousins wins superbowls, they could trade Penix or continue to wait. They are not stuck with three years.

One big caveat 99% of experts seem to forget is...Falcons don't have a crystal ball, they weren't 100 Penix, Jr would be there at 8. IF they had a crystal ball, they wouldn't have signed Cousins. Doesn't seem that hard to understand, at least to me, a football guy 😉

Rich is getting the most out of off-season content, lol. Let's not act like Kirk wasn't going to sign with the highest bidder. The Falcons also gave him a no trade clause, so he has a say in where he goes if he's traded.

Kirk always been a cut throat businessman. He got cut back.

It makes all the sense in the world. And they are hearing the bs from you and the other media outlets. Get over it.

You guys should do some research before you speak. Oregon played Utah and they kicked the everliving crap out of them

Cousin is getting 100 million guaranteed over 2 years and already got 50 million to sign. How is he a victim here Rich? Worry about the Jets not having an quality offensive line to protect Aaron Rodgers. Or not having a quality one since Mark Sanchez rookie season.

LOL It blows my mind how some people can't wrap their head around wanting to draft a future QB, after signing a 36 year old who is coming off of a serious injury. Historically, a significant majority of quarterbacks start falling off significantly at around 37 or 38 , if not earlier in some instances. Matt Ryan was out of the league before he turned 38. Peyton Manning was out of the league before he turned 40. Cousins could fall off significantly at any time. Guys like Tom Brady are an anomaly.

Slow news day huh.....

Rich stfu and let Albert talk. Rich somehow just got his head around two-week old news. Typical.

They choose mariota, drafted ridder. They make it seem they went a decade without a qb

Because a #8 pick should be an immediate impact starter, not the insurance policy.

The owe Kirk 0!!!!!! That is what the money is for!!

Rich just needs to focus on his team You know the one that drafts busted QBs You know the one that just traded their second overall pick for a bag of pubic hair

Do any job tell you they are hiring you’re replacement?????

Its not about the Penix Pick... its about what the Penix Pick Represents..... As a Vikings fan I am absolutely loving seeing this dude get EXACTLY what he deserves.

worse than ricky williams saints debacle

‘Why sign Cousins?’, is the only legitimate question here. Every other move makes sense, and Fontenot has explained it. I predicted they would draft Penix at 8, so all you had to do is listen to Fontenot the month before the draft - closely - and you’d know it was going to happen. Apparently, no one, including Eisen or Cousins was, or did. So, the major question is, ‘Why draft Cousins and pay him so much to begin with, especially when most NFL players with Achilles injuries never perform up to their previous standard?’ (An almost never talked about stat in this whole scenario). Because Blank is old and he wants to win now. Because Fontenot and Morris both believe the Falcons were a QB away from being a play-off team. Because they did not know for sure that Penix was the guy at FA time - or that they would be able to get him at 8 (his stock was rising draft day and someone could have traded up to get him, just like what happened to NO with Mahomes). So, why draft Penix when you have Cousins? Because of Terry’s Truisms (of which there are many): ‘QB is the most important position in the NFL.’ ‘If you have a chance to take a franchise QB you don’t pass it up.’ He said both of these in the weeks before the draft. I can’t believe all the whining on this ‘take’ by the Falcons. I guarantee that few of these pundits will be around two years from now to admit how wrong they were if the Falcons sort all this out and come out on top of the NFL.

the moral of the video isnt that signing Kirk and then drafting his future replacement in Penix 8th is not the issue It is the poor mismanagement of their cap and hinders them significantly in putting on a team that will put them over the line if that is their goal which is to win a SB because of the Kirk contract Now they have this issue of having near $50M on the QB position after they drafted one in the First round

Hedging your bets in the NFL doesn’t win super bowls. To finish 1 out of 32 at any time period you have to have a win now or win later vision, can’t do both unless you have a bonafide top 5 qb. And when you finally start penix, your rookie contract window is minimally 2 years shorter

Why's he still crying? 😂

Wait till Rich finds out how old Super Bowl winning QB Kurt Warner was when he became a starter. He was 28, please stop with the Penix will be 26 bs, no one cares

Completely preposterous

because they suck

Falcons could have paid Russell Wilson a few million to be their stop-gap quarterback. He could have taught Penix how to win a super bowl. Instead they paid $100 million to cousins. Terry Fontenot is in Arthur Blanks head and checkbook. This GM has to go.

Worst decision ever particularly because Penix sucks

How the F can Breer sit there with a a straight face and back the Falcons process in the choice of taking Penix . Atlanta signed Kirk Cousins coming off his achilles injury to a massive $100M G for two years. At his intro presser Cousins says "It's nice to be at a place where Ownership and Coaches and QB are all on the same page. I mean c'mon.... The Fn excuses Rap made for the Falcons is utter silliness. And here's Breer literally starting off on the excuses train, until Rich notes the utter idiocy of this move, and then Brreer moves to straddling the fence on the move. Good for Rich on sticking to his guns about the stupidity by Atlanta.