Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank isn't worried about the slings and arrows his franchise has received since selecting Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick after investing $100 million in Kirk Cousins during free agency.
"Thank heavens we don't always listen to the league," he said, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "And thank heavens we don't always listen to the media. And thank heavens we don't always do what everybody else thinks we should be doing. We're actually very independent thinkers."
Blank reiterated that Cousins is the present while Penix was drafted as the future. The owner added that the club "made it clear" to Cousins and others that the club would "probably" draft a quarterback -- something reportedly contradicted by the QB's initial reaction.
"Kirk Cousins is our franchise quarterback, is our starting quarterback and he seems to be doing great from a medical standpoint," Blank said of Cousins' recovery from an Achilles tear. "His attitude, his leadership, culturally, personally, with our players, with the coaching staff, has been nothing short of outstanding. So, we couldn't be happier with that situation."
Blank green-lit the plan to spend big on Cousins while doubling down with Penix to ensure a proper baton-handoff, and the Falcons wouldn't be caught in a similar QB-purgatory they've found themselves in the last several seasons.
"We've been through a situation, post-Matt Ryan, when we're seeing that movie when we didn't have a franchise quarterback," he noted. "We didn't want to repeat that again. I mean, I certainly didn't. I'm super sensitive to all forms of succession planning. After 60-odd years of business, in any business, that's critical. At the key position, the quarterback position in the NFL, that's very important. So, just listening to our coaching staff and our personnel department, they really made the decision. Michael was going to be available at number eight. They saw an extraordinary talent."
The plan might have stung Cousins, whose tenure in ATL now likely has an expiration date. However, for the man who owns the club, it was the best use of assets to plan for the future.
"I know age does kind of creep up," Blank said. "I can speak myself personally on that a little bit. I know what that means. 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. We want to make sure we do that smoothly. ...
"So, we're doing our advance planning and doing our advance thinking. That's what fans expect of us to do. Maybe not right at the moment. At the moment, they may have liked a different player. But at some point, down the road, they'll want to know that we can have a smooth transition at that very critical position for the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League."
