My son says that perhaps this is all about Atlanta drafting Penix with no intention of keeping him, but rather trading him to another team for a couple of premium players.
I'll admit, this might be feasible, but I think unless they know of a couple of teams that might be interested, this one is tough to think a team would actually try to pull this off.
The bottom line is: if this is NOT what they're trying to do, then listening to every former GM, HC, you name it, this pick is nuts.
1) Cousins has a 4 year 180 mll contract with 100 mil guaranteed.
2) He hasn't even shown up for work-outs yet!
3) I can't think of a QB in this position that would look at this and not wonder how much actual confidence the team had in him.
4) What if Cousins has 2 or 3 bad games in a row? Do you bench him and put in Penix? You know many fans will be hollering for it. Holy smokes.
5) Cousins isn't about to help Penix get prepared to take his job away from him!
6) If Atlanta doesn't win with Cousins over the next 2-3 years, the HC and probably GM will be fired. Then when a new tandem is hired, are they even going to want Penix? Or agree to be saddled with him?
7) If Cousins were to play 3 years and then Penix takes over, Penix will be going on almost 27 years old!
8) Is Atlanta already using a top 10 draft pick looking to the future? How about the present? Are they saying that even with Cousins that they aren't really thinking they'll do much?
9) This team hasn't been to the playoffs in 7 years. Are they thinking that Cousins is the final piece and suddenly they are going to automatically go on a 3 year playoff run and then later just plug-in Penix? Really?
10) How the heck did Arthur Blank ever agree to this? Or worse, did he know about it? Or, did he think it through enough to understand the enormous complications it now causes?
11) Atlanta isn't Green Bay. Cousins isn't Rogers. Penix isn't Love. What Green Bay did is not necessarily repeatable, and if it is, it has be pretty special circumstances.