FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — If Michael Penix Jr. ends up being a good quarterback for the Falcons someday, then general manager Terry Fontenot will be hailed for his vision. Fontenot will get some credit if he trades Penix for a good haul in the future.

Any other outcome and Fontenot might never live down this pick. There’s no in-between. That’s how it goes when a GM makes a confusing and polarizing decision with one of the team’s most precious assets, a high draft pick. It just doesn’t make sense.

Fontenot took Washington’s Penix No. 8 overall Thursday night in the NFL draft even though the Falcons just signed veteran QB Kirk Cousins for $100 million guaranteed. If everything goes as planned with Cousins, then Penix won’t see the field for at least three seasons. Fontenot took a huge gamble by spending a high draft pick on a player who isn’t likely to have much value for the Falcons this season or, perhaps, ever.

Said Fontenot: “We’re very excited about Kirk, very excited about this team. Michael Penix is, we’re talking about the future. You look at the future, you look at big picture.”

That might make sense if the Falcons are a winning outfit. But they haven’t made the playoffs since 2017 and have only two winning seasons since 2012. The Falcons fired coach Arthur Smith because he wasn’t meeting expectations. They replaced him with Raheem Morris and declared that they are ready to win now, then used the No. 8 draft pick on a QB after splurging for Cousins.

Picking Penix might be logical if Cousins were in the final year of his contract. The Falcons signed Cousins through 2027. They essentially are committed to him for three seasons because of salary-cap ramifications.

Cousins is less than one year removed from Achilles surgery, so Penix is insurance as a backup. But the Falcons already have a good backup QB, Taylor Heinicke. They had their pick of defensive prospects at No. 8 because the first seven players selected were offensive players, including four quarterbacks. The Falcons decided to take a quarterback when they already had one with a salary that’s taking up about 10% of their cap room now and could eat 20% of it in 2026.

It was a strange decision by Fontenot. It caught Cousins off-guard. His agent, Mike McCartney, told AJC Falcons beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter that the Falcons didn’t tell Cousins about their decision to draft Penix until they were on the clock. Fontenot and Morris said they didn’t want to talk about Cousins’ reaction because it was a private conversation. I suspect they would be more willing to share if Cousins were excited about the pick.

The Falcons had needs at other positions. Pass rusher was at the top of the list. They could use another top-level wide receiver. Every team needs multiple cornerbacks who can cover pass-catchers. Few teams invest so much in two quarterbacks because only one of them can play at a time.

Fontenot previously used high draft picks for players at positions where the team already had competent starters. He selected running back Bijan Robinson No. 8 overall in 2023, wide receiver Drake London at No. 8 in 2022 and tight end Kyle Pitts No. 4 in 2021. But the Falcons didn’t have a running back, wide receiver or tight end as accomplished at their positions then as Cousins is at quarterback now.

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