Report directly refutes that Kirk Cousins knew Falcons might draft a QB

When the Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr., the entire NFL world, outside of a few inside Flowery Branch, was taken by surprise, including Kirk Cousins.

The veteran signed with Atlanta about six weeks earlier in free agency, to the tune of $180 million with more than half of it fully guaranteed. Reports surfaced immediately following the first round that Cousins’ camp was taken back, and rightfully so.

Until recently, it was assumed that Cousins had no idea the Michael Penix Jr. draft pick was coming. That was until last week when Arthur Blank claimed that Cousins knew the Falcons could draft a quarterback, which he was made aware of during contract negotiations.

However, a report from a story by ESPN pundits Jeremy Fowler and Marc Raimondi directly refutes that claim.

“I don’t think anybody in the personnel department knew what was coming,” a team source told Fowler and Raimondi. “The feeling was like, ‘All right, OK, here we go.’ There wasn’t the normal eruption in the room that you usually would have with a more predictable pick.”

The pair continued that a certain portion of the front office weren’t surprised at all and that many people knew going into the first round that Atlanta’s intention was to draft Penix. Where the direct refutation comes from is that Cousins and his camp were stunned and didn’t know.

“That never came up as even a remote possibility” in Atlanta’s talks with Cousins before the draft, a source with direct knowledge of the veteran’s free agency process said,” Fowler and Raimondi write.

This seems like a game of he said, she said; however, it’s obvious that Atlanta’s organization wasn’t on the same page whatsoever. With that being said, some decisions do not need the approval of 100% of an organization.

Drafting Michael Penix Jr. was very clearly a decision made between Arthur Blank, Raheem Morris, and Terry Fontenot, a charge led by Morris and his coaching staff.

Depending on how all of this shakes out, the Falcons are going to be the poster boy for what to do or what not to do when rebuilding a quarterback room.

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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire