The Falcons have been roasted for the last week after drafting Michael Penix Jr.

To the surprise of many, the Atlanta Falcons selected quarterback Michael Penix Jr at No. 8 overall in last week’s 2024 NFL Draft. It was a very bizarre decision considering they just signed Kirk Cousins to a $180 million deal in free agency. Puzzling, to say the least.

Well, the Falcons have faced criticism from many about their Penix Jr move, with one anonymous GM more or less calling the higher-ups a bunch of children.

“I’d love to know what the conversations were in Atlanta leading up to that and why there was no adult supervision,” a former GM said. “Truth be told, they could be good next year with Kirk Cousins, come away with the 25th or 26th pick, and then you take a quarterback in that range. That is what Green Bay did with Jordan Love, and it is fundamentally different from what Atlanta just did.”

Another one ripped the Falcons, too:

“How you could go through free agency and think to yourself, ‘Penix is our guy, but let’s give $100 million to Kirk Cousins just in case Penix doesn’t fall to us at 8’?” an exec said. “Come on, man.”

Falcons drafting Penix Jr makes zero sense

Out of all the quarterbacks in the 2024 class, Penix Jr could very well be the most NFL-ready right now. He spent six years in college between stints at Indiana and Washington, throwing for nearly 10,000 yards across the last two seasons with the Huskies.

With that being said, it means he’s prepared to step in and be a QB1. Unfortunately, that won’t happen after the Falcons invested nearly $200 million in Cousins, who is coming off an Achilles tear.

A different executive suggested the Falcons should’ve instead signed another free agent QB and then drafted Penix:

“I really like Penix, but if you are going to draft him, why would you not have taken Justin Fields from Chicago or signed Russell Wilson and then drafted Penix?” an exec said. “No one would fault you for that. They would have been much better off with money invested elsewhere. And the thing about Penix is, he is ready to play now. He is not the rookie QB that needs to wait.”

The Falcons’ clear need in the draft was defense, which they failed to address in the first round. Sure, maybe Penix Jr shines in camp and proves that he can beat out Cousins for the starter job. But, it won’t happen because Atlanta just threw a bag of money at Cousins and it’s going to be next to impossible to move him if they ever decided to. The 35-year-old is guaranteed a whopping $90 million across the next two years.

Penix Jr himself can’t be too happy about being in this position, either. I mean, he proved at Washington that he’s legit and there’s no question the 24-year-old wants to prove himself at the next level. The opportunity to do so certainly won’t be there in 2024 and who knows about 2025, either.

Did the Falcons make the wrong move at eighth overall? It sure does seem like it. But, I guess only time will tell.