The fallacy here is that they HAD to sign Cousins.
Sam Darnold has been a better player and only signed a one-year deal for $10 mil. He was going to be the stopgap until McCarthy was ready and he didn’t get a massive deal.
+1. Of course, the Falcons didn't know when they signed Cousins that they would be able to draft Penix shortly thereafter.
They now have a ton of cap invested Cousins, coming off a serious injury. That cap could have gone to fix their pass defense, which has looked pretty bad if you've watched them.
If you draft a ready to go starting QB, like Russell Wilson with the Seahawks, you free up a ton of money for other needs vs paying a veteran starting QB past his rookie deal - the highest paid player on most teams. But even if Penix looks great, and you start him in '25, you spent a bunch of cap on Cousins.
Oh, and Penix had 4 consecutive college seasons ended early by injury. So even if he does look good these last 3 games, well, he might be like Winston or Carr in terms of full-season dependability.