Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Kirk Cousins' age played a significant role in the club's decision to select Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 pick in the 2024 draft.
"Kirk Cousins is our franchise quarterback, is our starting quarterback, and he seems to be doing great from a medical standpoint," Blank said, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
He added, "Kirk will be 36 at the start of the season. We hope and pray he's got three-to-four great years in front of him, maybe beyond that. Who knows? But we also know that at some point, there will be a point that we'll need a transition."
Atlanta signed Cousins in March to a four-year, $180-million deal with $100 million guaranteed. He's coming off a torn Achilles suffered in Week 8 but has since been fully cleared by doctors to participate in training camp. Cousins was enjoying a tremendous start to the 2023 campaign before the injury, throwing for 2,331 yards with a then league-leading 18 touchdowns.
The Michigan State product was reportedly "shocked" and "disappointed" when the Falcons selected Penix. However, Blank stated the organization told Cousins they were eyeing a quarterback to sit behind the veteran.
"I'll go back a little bit and say that we've made it clear to Kirk and others that we probably were going to draft a quarterback during this draft," Blank said. "As it turned out, Michael Penix, for our coaching staff and our personnel department, graded extraordinarily high. They viewed him as a tremendous player."
Penix and Washington's offense took college football by storm in 2023. He threw for 4,903 yards with 36 touchdowns, and the club ranked ninth in touchdowns per contest across the entire FBS. The Huskies ultimately lost to Michigan in the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Atlanta ranked outside the top 20 in passing yards per game in back-to-back seasons.
