Falcons HC Raheem Morris compares himself and GM Terry Fontenot to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

One can assume Morris was talking about the attention he and Fontenot were getting after the Falcons selected former Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 overall in the draft on Thursday. It was a very interesting pick considering the Falcons signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract in March.

Raheem Morris talks backlash of Falcons drafting Michael Penix Jr.

The pick of Penix became the talk of the draft. Morris and Fontenot understand Falcons fans having strong emotions about the pick because the thought was they would take the top defensive player in the draft.

“I won’t ride the emotional roller coaster, and I won’t let our organization ride the emotional roller coaster,” Morris said, per the Falcons’ official website. “When you make those decisions, you can’t be off of what everybody else thinks and what they say. Those reactions are going to happen. Some of the most bold decisions in anything we’ve ever done, not just football, they always happen when it comes with a little bit of rift. We’re not going to run away from those things and those rifts if we believe in it. And we certainly believe in it. We won’t waver on it.”

Morris and Fontenot believe they have solved the QB issue for the next five years or more. It’s understandable for the Falcons to take Penix in the sense they have a potential franchise QB once Cousins leaves the team. Former Falcons QB Matt Ryan, who just retired from the NFL, was traded in 2022, leaving the team to start Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder the last two years. But if Cousins is the starting QB for three or four seasons, Penix’s contract will be up by then and fans would argue the Falcons wasted a top-10 pick.