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Yes, occasionally the value of a draft pick is getting a guy you never want to let go. Fine. Maybe if Penix turns into that guy, this won't look that bad in the longish run... like Aaron Rodgers, more or less.
But it's a salary cap league. A huge part of the value of early draft picks is to get plus contributors for far less than market price under the cap. The Packers, with Jordan Love, were paying him (likely) more than the market rate for a QB2 while he sat and waited - they missed out on the value portion of draft value, and now they face paying him market rate for his actual service.
Let's say that Cousins plays two full seasons and then the Falcons arrange a costly separation. Then they get Penix for 2 seasons plus an extension year. The chances of that usage providing much cap-related value are just not very high.
And that's before you weigh in the opportunity cost of adding, say, an impact pass rusher (for 4-5 years cheap under the cap) to a team supposedly in go-for-it-now mode. The math is pretty compelling here, even acknowledging that football QB is a uniquely valuable/critical position.
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