2024 NFL Draft: QB Michael Penix Jr. had a hot market before Falcons selected him

While the Falcons shocked the world by selecting Michael Penix Jr. with pick No. 8 in the 2024 NFL Draft, it turns out he had other suitors.

The Atlanta Falcons made the most shocking pick of the night, selecting Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. As it turns out, however, three other teams were also trying to move up for his services.

According to James Palmer, formerly of NFL Network, three other teams were attempting to jump up the board to draft Penix Jr. as well. He identified those teams as the Las Vegas Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, and the New Orleans Saints.

While it makes the selection of Penix Jr. a bit more understanding from Atlanta's perspective, it is still quite easily the worst pick of the first round. Just because the player had other suitors does not make it any more bizarre, considering they cannot realistically get out of the $90 million they guaranteed Kirk Cousins in free agency until 2026. Even then they will have to eat $12 million in dead money in both 2026 and 2027 to do so.

This means the quarterback they just burned a top-10 pick on, who is turning 24 years old in just over a week, will realistically be 27 years old before he even takes a starting rep (assuming Cousins remains healthy). For a team playing in the worst division in football and who just went after the best quarterback on the market in free agency (and who they committed a lot of money to!), they still would have been better suited to add an im