Within the spring of 2024, veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins didn’t deny that he could not have left the Minnesota Vikings to signal with the Atlanta Falcons in free company had he recognized that Atlanta would choose signal-caller Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth general decide of final 12 months’s draft.
In feedback shared throughout an episode of the Netflix collection “Quarterback,” which premiered Tuesday, Cousins admitted that he felt “slightly bit misled” after the Falcons drafted Penix.
“Definitely, if I had the knowledge round free company, it actually would’ve affected my resolution,” Cousins defined, per Marc Raimondi of ESPN. “I had no motive to go away Minnesota with how a lot we beloved it there if each groups are going to be drafting a quarterback excessive. However I’ve additionally realized in 12 years on this league that you simply’re not entitled to something. It is all about with the ability to earn your spot and show your self.”
Cousins signed a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M assured to hitch the Falcons in March 2024. In the meantime, the Vikings made quarterback J.J. McCarthy the tenth decide of final 12 months’s draft however then went 14-3 with Sam Darnold as their QB1.
As for Cousins, he guided the 2024 Falcons to a 6-3 file earlier than he appeared to have a “dead” arm throughout 5 straight video games, 4 of which Atlanta misplaced. It is now known that he handled ankle, shoulder and elbow points earlier than the Falcons named Penix their starter forward of Week 16.
“The data I had on the time, I made the most effective resolution,” Cousins stated about attempting to play by damage setbacks. “You additionally know that in the event you sit down Week 10 and take two or three weeks or extra to let it heal, you might by no means get your job again. …In order that was one thing I all the time was conscious of, that on this league, in the event you give another person the prospect, if you wish to get ‘Wally Pipped’ and there is Lou Gehrig behind you, that may occur on the time.”
Penix will enter coaching camp as Atlanta’s full-time starter after groups selected to not commerce for Cousins earlier than they stuffed their quarterback rooms by way of different strikes. Some thought the Pittsburgh Steelers might attain out to the Falcons about Cousins’ availability, however Pittsburgh as a substitute signed future Corridor of Famer Aaron Rodgers in June.
It is now thought Cousins might start the upcoming season as Penix’s main backup if the 36-year-old continues to be with the Falcons when coaching camp practices get underway later this month.
“It hurts to enter work, however you bought to be an grownup,” Cousins stated about his state of affairs. “You have to be a grown man and deal with it with maturity. I really feel sorry for myself and it is exhausting to do, however that is what you bought to do. And in order that’s form of the place my focus went.”
There is no indication any workforce is prepared to surrender property in an effort to land Cousins, so he could quietly discover himself hoping that Penix struggles when Atlanta opens the marketing campaign with a matchup versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 7.
