Kirk Cousins feels he was “misled” by the Atlanta Falcons over their signing of Michael Penix Jr., who was selected eighth by the Georgia franchise in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Cousins not informed of Penix Jr.’s arrival in Atlanta
It was reported at the time that Penix Jr.’s arrival at Mercedes-Benz Stadium hadn’t been communicated to fellow quarterback Cousinswho himself had only joined the Falcons after six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings a little over a month earlier.
“I don’t really deal in hypotheticals,” was the veteran QB’s response when quizzed on whether he regretted moving to Atlanta by reporters.
#Falcons QB Kirk Cousins revealed on Netflix’s “Quarterback” that he felt misled by the organization when they drafted Michael Penix Jr. last year:
“Certainly, if I had that information around free agency, it would’ve affected my decision. I had no reason to leave Minnesota,… pic.twitter.com/ymKWXWFViH
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 8, 2025
It turns out, however, that Cousins was concealing his true feelingswhich have now been made public on season two of Netflix series “Quarterback”.
Kirk Cousins “had no reason to leave Minnesota”
“I wasn’t expecting us to take a quarterback,” Cousins explained. “At the time, it felt like I’d been a little bit misled — or certainly if I had the information around free agency, it certainly would have affected my decision. I had no reason to leave Minnesota with how much we loved it there, if both teams are gonna be drafting a quarterback high.”
Cousins explained that he chose to leave Minnesota for Atlanta for contractual reasons. With the Illinois native in his mid-30s, the Vikings had wanted to offer him year-to-year deals, which led to him accepting a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons.
Cousins replaced as starting QB by Penix Jr.
Cousins started the first 14 games of the 2024 NFL regular season, in which he had a 7-7 record. However, he was replaced by Penix as starting quarterback in Week 15at which stage he led the league in interceptions and was tied for the league lead in fumbles.
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