Down in Atlanta....

[tukafan21]

1 hour ago, SCO96 said:

I see your point. However, what if Penix doesn’t have a stellar season in his first year as starter? If the Falcon miss the playoffs and his play is only competent at best I think the leverage swings the other way.

Sure, but if that happens, the draft pick will look even worse for the Falcons, as instead of getting them a player that could win now, they took someone who ran off their prize FA QB after 3 years and now looks like they may be a bust.

Penix was one of the more polished QB's in the draft and would have probably been a rookie starter if taken by someone with an uncertain starting QB, if he's not ready to step in and play well in year 3, then it's probably not going to work out.

So the only way it helps their contract situation, is if it doesn't work out as they plan, but if it does, they're going to cut Cousins after 2 years and then have to give Penix a monster deal the following offseason.

Edited May 2 by tukafan21

[Shotgun]

Atlanta was at least smart enough to draft a QB that's over 6' tall.

[hepcat]

I hate to praise Atlanta but what they did was not dumb. The only issue is where they drafted Penix. #8 overall was very high for a QB with Penix’s injury history. But it wasn’t a bad decision. I wish the Panthers took a broader approach to finding a franchise QB after Cam. 

Cousins is old and recovering from a serious injury, so he is obviously a temporary placeholder. It makes sense they hedged their bet on Cousins, because Atlanta was burned by holding onto Matt Ryan too long while his skills degraded. If Cousins can still play, Penix gets to sit on the bench and learn which has proven to be a winning strategy for developing young QBs. If Cousins sucks or gets hurt again, they have a legit backup plan to see what they have in Penix. 

Where are the Panthers if Bryce gets hurt or sucks again this season? The season is over and they’ll be considering drafting another QB next year. 

[Shotgun]

4 minutes ago, hepcat said:

 

Where are the Panthers if Bryce gets hurt 

We get better unfortunately.

[SCO96]

1 hour ago, Shotgun said:

Atlanta was at least smart enough to draft a QB that's over 6' tall.

[SCO96]

2 hours ago, hepcat said:

I hate to praise Atlanta but what they did was not dumb. The only issue is where they drafted Penix. #8 overall was very high for a QB with Penix’s injury history. But it wasn’t a bad decision. I wish the Panthers took a broader approach to finding a franchise QB after Cam. 

Cousins is old and recovering from a serious injury, so he is obviously a temporary placeholder. It makes sense they hedged their bet on Cousins, because Atlanta was burned by holding onto Matt Ryan too long while his skills degraded. If Cousins can still play, Penix gets to sit on the bench and learn which has proven to be a winning strategy for developing young QBs. If Cousins sucks or gets hurt again, they have a legit backup plan to see what they have in Penix. 

Where are the Panthers if Bryce gets hurt or sucks again this season? The season is over and they’ll be considering drafting another QB next year. 

I don't think I would have done what Atlanta did, but this was a very logical explanation for why they did it. You bring up a good point about Bryce. I think the team would be leery about moving on from Bryce if he struggles early. Doing so would indicate they made a bad decision and pretty much shatter his confidence.

And even if we did bench, Dalton is pretty much a C level backup at this point in his career. I actually would have considered taking Spencer Rattler in round 4 or 5. It would have brought in some legit competition and another live arm. We all know that Rattler could have completed a lot of the throws Bryce missed last year, he's already has an established connection with XL, and the offense wouldn't have been restricted to 10 yard passes and bubble screens. 

[CanadianCat]

7 hours ago, SCO96 said:

I don't think I would have done what Atlanta did, but this was a very logical explanation for why they did it. You bring up a good point about Bryce. I think the team would be leery about moving on from Bryce if he struggles early. Doing so would indicate they made a bad decision and pretty much shatter his confidence.

And even if we did bench, Dalton is pretty much a C level backup at this point in his career. I actually would have considered taking Spencer Rattler in round 4 or 5. It would have brought in some legit competition and another live arm. We all know that Rattler could have completed a lot of the throws Bryce missed last year, he's already has an established connection with XL, and the offense wouldn't have been restricted to 10 yard passes and bubble screens. 

I love to bash them for this move but its smart.. 

They have a team that can win the NFCS this year, but yet they are picking in the top 10 now. 

Cousins contract is really only a 2 year deal. So Penix can sit and learn with no pressure for 2 years and in year 3 when Cousins guaranteed money is over they can plug in Penix. 

If they were not in a position to win the South this year then I think this would have been bad trade, but its smart and they can afford it. 

[Basbear]

18 hours ago, SCO96 said:

 Everyone talks about how important it is to draft a QB in round 1 and have the "5th year option" I haven't seen it play out the well over the past several years.

The good/great QB' aren't playing the first 5 years under their original deal.  After year 3 or 4 they are getting mammoth extensions.

Having Penix take over in year 3 may actually save the Falcons some money over the next 5 seasons. I doubt they'd give him an extension after his first year as a starter if he took over the starting position after the guaranteed portion of Kurt Cousins new deal ends in 2025.   In terms of playing time, Penix 3 years as a starter would be ending with the 5th year of his rookie deal (assuming his option was picked up). The money Penix would be making in year 5 of a rookie contract would be significantly less than the upper echelon 5 year starters are making now.

 

The 5th year allows tons of leverage when it comes to new contract talks. It's like having 20% more control of a contract. It allows cheaper numbers, cause well you have that 5years compared to 4. Plus you also have 6th, 7th, and 8th(I think) tagged years. Sure the QB doesn't play on it, but it allows teams to lower their offers given the years of control. 

The deal with penix is he's also old too, so that 3rd year he's going to be 26/7 unlike 23. 

You are also looking at the best side that penix can play and needs a new contract. It could easily be he's a bust and thus wasted this important era. The failcons should be comfy in the playoffs barring injuries. Now they missed on adding a edge making a key sack in the playoffs, to having spend the 8th overall on josh Rosen. 

Honestly they should have drafted Rome Odunze. Pitts, Robinson, Allgeier, London, with a *healthy cousins.....that's 5/6 big problems for defenses. Most days they'd be able to drop 40. 

Im super happy they didn't, but ask again in 3 years and I may regret.....

[frankw]

10 hours ago, Shotgun said:

Atlanta was at least smart enough to draft a QB that's over 6' tall.

[UnluckyforSome]

Per PFT, Atlanta was trying to swing a trade with the Jets for the 10th pick, after selecting Penix at #8.

[SmokinwithWilly]

On 5/2/2024 at 4:26 AM, Shotgun said:

Atlanta was at least smart enough to draft a QB that's over 6' tall.

So you're saying Tepper and Fitts were a little short sighted? 

[strato]

Maybe Cousins coming off an achilles (a speed robbing injury) influenced their decision? Second thoughts about the level of commitment? A hedge? Probably. 

[PNW_PantherMan]

They did this because Arthur Blank believes the Packers model is the path to finding a franchise QB.  Drafting a 1st rounder and letting them sit for 2-3 seasons.

Edited May 4 by PNW_PantherMan

[Basbear]

On 5/4/2024 at 4:50 PM, strato said:

Maybe Cousins coming off an achilles (a speed robbing injury) influenced their decision? Second thoughts about the level of commitment? A hedge? Probably. 

Then don't give him 180 with 100 mill in guarantees.

In truth it was a 100 million smokescreen, LOLOOLololololol!!

There a new report of cousins leaving the Vikings cause no matter what they were planning on drafting a early QB.  

It's one big mess, watch if he struggles out the gate, it will split the locker room and fans for to play penix instead. 

Edited May 6 by Basbear