It has to be more to it because Rich is not this dense to keep obsessing over something that essentially makes perfect sense but can't seem to fathom.

That’s because to those who follow NFL for a living “it doesn’t make sense”

@@jeffreyolive8375it only doesn’t make sense to people that look at it from surface level

It doesn't make sense to anyone who wants to win superbowls. It makes sense if u r trying to have a chance every year to have 1 playoff game lol.

@@tubeuszr the Vikings wasn't a Superbowl contender with him healthy and now he's a year older and coming off an injury.

He would have settled for Mike White. 😄

Rich won't let this topic go, but I get it, it was and still is a head scratcher and is bound to produce lots of more drama in the upcoming years.

Yeah partying with players in Tampa

Matt became a statue at 32... even off a torn Achilles Kirk is still probably more mobile than Ryan at 36...

@@morsumbra9692 He was 31 when he won MVP... so in your opinion, he won an MVP and then immediately became worse than Kirk Cousins on a torn achilles. Gotcha. When he was 33 he almost threw for 5000 yards and was 35/7 TDINT... almost exactly Kirks stats at the same age (4200 33/7)... I'd call that a pretty good statue. Their stats continue to mirror each other... meaning... Kirk isn't going to match those numbers again... especially coming off a torn achilles. If he does I'll come back to this conversation and apologize for doubting the clairvoyance of you and Rich.

@@stevenrussellwells stats are one thing, the eye test says it all. But yeah we can revisit wk 8-12 in the season. Whats the exact criteria/bar we looking for, for us to agree Kirk more mobile than Ryan? Less sacks, a rushing TD, more successful Jukes made? Can't really do stats comparison cuz the whole ones outta the league already sssoooo.....?

@@morsumbra9692 The eye test? Of what, mobility? My quarterback can be a statue all day if he puts up 5000/37/7... oh darn he can't scramble, better get a new quarterback. How'd that work out for Peyton Manning? Your last sentence is making my point for me. He's out of the league two years older than Kirk with the exact same trajectory. SMH (Side note, I'm not even a Falcons fan, I just think Rich is being absurd)

@@stevenrussellwells If you have doubts (strong doubts, slight doubts...whatever) that Kirk Cousins can't do the job, can't practice, can't lead, can't throw (whatever!) then why sign him and pay him two wheelbarrows full of $100 bills. Makes zero sense. Orrrr, the other way to look at it: If you're IN LOVE and I mean something like CAN NOT LIVE WITHOUT Michael Penix, then why sign Kirk? 8th pick? That kids falling right into your lap. Annnnd, if you think there's a slight possibility that he can't be got at 8, then trade up for him. Regardless, you save a ton of salary cap by not signing Kirk. Orrrrr, you believe in Kirk for the short-term but don't draft anything with number 8 that helps Kirk in the short-term. You're not playing two QBs at the same time. And you're not playing Penix on D or ST. It's by far the most head-scratching draft pick ever. Ever.

Kirk Cousins is NOT Montana, stop it 💀

@@LewdConnoisseur nobody said he was . The context is a good aging starter and a team goes out signs or drafts a starting caliber QB behind him. This has happened before . Slightly different but not new

@@paulgood2218 The concept seems too difficult for many to grasp apparently.

They still hate each other (Young/Montana). Neither one will attend an event, if they know the other will be there. It's kinda sad.

@@paulgood2218 That was exactly your analogy. Don't you understand logic? Great QB had a Great QB drafted behind him. Kik has less of a reputation than Montana and his back-up is TBD. Terrible analogy. Montana would be right to be surprised at a QB draft. Not Kirk. Kirk would have been a backup to the last 5 Superbowl appearing QBs.

I'm laughing at them.

People said almost verbatim these same arguments when KC traded up and drafted Mahommes 10th overall despite having Alex Smith on a large contract. Let Penix learn from a successful veteran for the future, but if Cousins can't play the same due to his Achilles then they'll move on from him. QBs are gold in this league, look how much teams like Chicago and Carolina struggle year after year to find one despite high picks. Atlanta is simply looking out for the future.

Right, The ATL. Should have hired Brian Flores.

Diabolical, really? I’ll tell you what’s diabolical. Diabolical is boldface lying to a free agent like Kirk cousins. Telling him that he’s your guy and that he will be your guy for the next four years. Telling him that you’re all in and trying to win a Super Bowl. That’s what swayed his decision to leave Minnesota and come to the Falcons. Yes he’s making a lot of money. He’s made a lot of money in his career. Had he known that, he would’ve stayed in Minnesota. Then do all that only to draft his replacement with the number eight pick in the first round before he even sets foot on the field in a falcon uniform. That pick could’ve been used on a pass rusher. If you’re truly all in and trying to win a Super Bowl, that’s what you do. This front office GM and head coach are hedging their bets and trying to keep their jobs. This way if cousins get hurt, they think they have the quarterback of the future and no drop off.. The problem is when you do stuff like this. It usually comes back to haunt you. Now cousins has to answer questions about a quarterback controversy before he even sets foot on the field as a falcon in the regular season. Now the young Michael Penix, who I’m sure would rather play right away, has to sit for at least two years and watch while . his draft contemporaries are playing. The other problem is drafting a quarterback in the first round of the NFL draft is a coin toss at best. Over the last three years, of all the first round draft choices at quarterback, only CJ Stroud and Trevor Lawrence are bona fide starting quarterbacks that contribute to their teams. For every CJ Stroud, there’s Kenny Pickett or Justin Fields. Both are now back up quarterbacks. There’s Will Levis who probably should will be a back up quarterback. There’s Bryce Young who plays for the worst team in the NFL. And has struggled mightily. You do one or the other, but you don’t do both. You’re doing a disservice to cousins, Penix and the Falcons by doing both.

Not really. What the Falcons did makes ZERO sense. Pay an older non elite QB, elite QB money & to a multi year contract, only to draft his successor right after signing him.

maybe cause he has owners..

It's because he secretly wanted the Jets to draft MP9.

@russellcabiles9428 for real.. especially Kirk coming off a non contact Achilles injury, plus the coach and GM don’t wanna end up like the Arthur Smith who had no QB for multiple seasons and lost his job, Atlanta now has a QB for now and presumably the next decade plus If Pennix pans out

Yes. Rodgers is 40 coming off an achiles...and is likely to get hurt again.

@@kylem6370then you don't pay all that guaranteed money if you think he's a liability. Getting sick and tired of this reasoning to justify a dumb pick

@@josiahk.2048 if we didn’t get Kirk Everyone would want to jump is for penixx. We wanted both Kirk and penixx…

@@ATLfalcons808 Which is stupid. No one was jumping for Penix. He's going to be bad, and the falcons are going to continue to be a joke.

At least kirk is on the same page

Thank You! Getting criticism for adding Dept is insane and shows how dumb the media is! The last two years have been pure hell at the QB position in ATL and I don't blame the Falcons for making sure they have extra protection at the QB spot!

​@@nicholasmallard2926Exactly. QB is the most important position in the league and a young QB can't mentor himself. It's so stupid the media doesn't see the value in grabbing Penix, a player that seems to have the clutch factor, and almost everyone in the media laughed at KC for grabbing Mahommes 10th when they had Alex Smith.

He’s a Jets fan so he knows nothing about QB development

Because it is a perplexing situation.

They paid him like a Super Bowl mvp. Thats why people, including rich, are acting the way they are. Instead of putting solid day 1 starter on the team at pick 8 or whatever, they got a glorified backup for now. As a Bucs fan I loved the pick 🤣

They paid him the market rate. Wait till you see what the market says serial chocker Dakota Prescott is worth. ​@@brandonstephens1447

Rich has been ranting about Cousins/Penix, since the Draft...Many in ATL and national media are still ranting about it! Meanwhile, Cousins quietly goes about his business - because there is always competition in football... The pundits who complain the most, like Rich, & Mina Kimes, are NOT athletes. They are imagining how hurt their feeling would be, or looking short-term, instead looking at the long-term benefit of QB depth.

Falcon is shitting on both QBs careers. Kirk didnt get help and the kid career is done if Kirk is successful.

@@tmcr1152 Kirk won't be successful in getting to a Super Bowl, therefore, the Kid's career is not done.

You are correct, using the 8th overall pick on a back up is dumb.

@TheMattTrakker not if it's at the position which is hardest to draft in the league. The NFL keeps reminding us how important a QB every year, yet drafting the most pro ready QB in the draft is somehow a terrible thing for the falcons to have 2 franchise QBs better than what most teams have

@@TheMattTrakker Teams do it ALL the time. Ironically. The Jets just did it

Kirk, prior to the achilles injury last year, had never missed a game to injury in his entire career.

So they drafted the guy that had 4 season ending injuries? The cope from falcons fans is just hilarious at this point.

@@davet2459so what? He’s 36. its about his age not his injury history

Kirk tampered, wanted out of Minnesota because they were honest about drafting a qb. Goes to Atlanta for top dollar leaving Justin Jefferson for some sophomores and an organization that will lose to the saints and the bucs and not even make it to the playoffs. Or they win the super bowl and delay starting penix until he's the "old guy"

@@whambalamb Falcons have been competitive through December the past two seasons with horrible QB play and awful play calling. If you think they’ll not compete for the division after fixing those issues you’re delusional.

Yep Rich is starting to sound like Florio. Ugh.

Atalanta does that to themselves. Joke of a franchise.

@@TheMattTrakker it’s spell “Atlanta”. I think people are pissed because they know the move is a great move for Atlanta. This give us security at the most important position

Penix MIGHT be good. Why not have 2? Because the team's roster isn't good. They have plenty of holes they could fill. They picked 8th, again, for a reason.

@@TheMattTrakkerare you even a Falcons fan? The roster does not have PLENTY of holes to fill.

After watching two hellish years of Mariota and Ridder make our pass catchers look like 💩 I have zero problem with the first pick going to a QB!

That was a second round pick, not 8 overall.

@@TheMattTrakker draft position is completely irrelevant. The fact that amount is, they signed a quarterback to a big deal and drafted another quarterback, relatively high in the draft the same off-season.

O hell no. I need this comedy for several more months.

@@srobeck77 People are laughing at Rich Eisen LOL

You don't waste 8th overall on a back-up. Although the falcons have shown they suck at drafting, so this is just par for the course.

Thats the irony.. Jets fan. One of the worst drafting teams in NFL history AND their old QB got hurt last year and who came in the game? Their young 1st rd pick QB. Except their young QB sucks.

Pretty much a big reason for Kirk leaving the Vikings, don't forget tampering, was because Quote "the gm, coach and qb have to be on the same page". Minnesota was up front, Atlanta lied.

Then why sign him?

They are both starters, that's it

@therotten6152 but not in season 1 and not likely in season 2. Just like Love.

Kirk's feelings don't matter.

Because you don't use 8 overall to draft a back-up. I don't understand why this is so hard to comprehend.

@@TheMattTrakker you do when you just had 2 bad qb years and your new qb is 36 not fully healed from a torn achilles and you dont anticipate being in the top 10 for draft picks again in the near feature.

I doubt it. Atlanta would have 65 mil in dead money and besides his cap hit they would immediately have an additional 25 mil cap hit.

@@jeffreyolive8375 I don't get how all that works, and couldn't be bothered to find out. But I'll take your word for it. Unfortunate as it would suite all parties me thinks.

@@UTube-gs1yf immediately upon trading or releasing a player his guaranteed money which most of the time is spread out for cap reasons becomes due. It like teams use a credit card to acquire/keep players. Money now pay later but the bill becomes due immediately if that player is cut or traded.

I want more, need more. This is comedy gold

He did the same with the Ohtani gambling thing when there was no new information coming out. Two solid weeks of "there has to be more there." It was getting embarrassing how much they talked about nothing.

@@archie15900 i need 3 more months of this level of entertainment. Dont be a Debbie Downer

Because he's trying just like ESPN to push a narrative that there is beef between Kirk and Micheal! Rodgers went down last season along with the Jets playoff hopes! Remember that Rich? Jets really could have used a solid backup QB to save their season!!!

It’s not the end of the world Ricky - and frankly having MP back up an injury prone Cousins is not a stupid idea. Ricky it goes against your narrative and your feelings are hurt. Stop 🛑

Do not get over this. I need this comedy in my life for several more months.

…. You paid a ridiculous sum for that “gimpy 35+ year old” and paid a ridiculous sum for the newbie. Doing both is laughable. Kirk at that price tag to be a bridge qb is reckless behavior.

@@BoHorn i wouldnt say gimp for a guy that just got injured for the first time in a 15 year career in the NFL. You aint too bright there, fella.

@@srobeck77 also, my man, im a vikings fan, im fully aware he was an ironman back there.

@@BoHorn ya im I believe this because u did say that hes "gimpy 35 year old", so your totally out of line there. But that said, I dont think hes worth as much as Atlanta paid him.

Should probably concern them that their defense is still bad...17th in points allowed.

@TheMattTrakker which was with one of the best D-lineman in the league, being hurt all of last year. And the rest of the draft after Penix was spent on defense. Still, falcons are allowed to do whatever they want.

They needed protection against an injury at QB! Ridder got injured as well as Taylor last season! You better have a solid backup or your season is done

No one addresses it because it's a stupid point. If you believe that, then why give him that much money? Maybe they should worry about getting to the playoffs before having a back-up plan to get them deeper.

What has Kirk done for the falcons to not have drafted a qb?

@@Dnasty0118 Signed a monster contract with a no trade clause and guaranteed money in the bank is what he done ROFL

Kirk Cousins was drafted by Washington the same year as RG3 and Griffin was expected to play with confidence knowing that Shanahan was forced to draft him by Snyder. Cousins will be OK with that guaranteed money for now

I would have been okay with it! F**k the Media and ESPN!!🖕🖕

@@nicholasmallard2926 and yet here u yet on social media living out your best life

They know it is a hot button with a lot of people and the best click bait since "Aliens abducted Elvis Presley! We have proof!"

He couldn't win a Super Bowl even when healthy. Kirk was hired to save a GMs job, not for the long-term future.

So why pay him 100m guaranteed?

Ofc and then logic is to give injured qb 100m guarantee.

@@NickyTeslaBecause they also want to win right now, so they signed the best FA QB available. Try to win now and try to also win for the 10 years after.

@@markosekulic119 That’s what the market dictated to sign him. Minn didn’t want to give him more than one year fully guaranteed. He also signed for a little less than he would have had he been healthy.

If any other team did that, Falcons fans would be clowning them as well. Let's not act as if Falcons fans haven't completely gaslit and brainwashed themselves into thinking that this was a good decision and that the media is making a big deal out of it.

@@ByGriPhoneplenty of teams have done that. The Packers just did it in with Jordan Love and Aaron Rodgers… What are you talking about? The Redskins drafted RG3 and then took Cousins in rd 2. Cousins is 36 coming off an achilles injury.. injury or not. He’s 36!! so who is gonna be the QB when he leaves?

People dont like the move bc its a Black GM, Black HC and a Black QB. Period!