As shared by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins was asked during a Tuesday news conference if he would’ve made a different choice in free agency had he known that the club would take signal-caller Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick of this year’s draft.
“I don’t really deal in hypotheticals,” Cousins said. “We could go down that path for a long time in a lot of ways. It just doesn’t do us any good. I’m excited for this opportunity that I have. I think it’s a real privilege to be the quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons and I’m trying to make good on the opportunity given me with the way I work each day and the way we play this fall.”
Cousins signed a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M guaranteed to leave the Minnesota Vikings for the Falcons in March. While he turns 36-years-old in August and is coming off a torn right Achilles he suffered this past October, it was reported on April 25 that he “was not given a heads up” that Atlanta could spend pick No. 8 of this year’s draft on his eventual replacement until the club was “on the clock.”
On Tuesday, Cousins touched upon his draft-night call related to what became the Penix selection.
“I was at the team event at the stadium, was just driving back and they called me and just said, ‘Hey, we’re going to take a quarterback here with the pick,'” Cousins recalled. “And I said, ‘OK.'”
During a recent appearance on the “Bussin’ with the Boys” podcast, Cousins noted that everybody within the Falcons organization needs to be “on the same page” this spring and summer as the team pursues at least a playoff berth. He preached a similar philosophy during Tuesday’s news conference.
“I think it’s so important that the quarterback room is just working together to help one another succeed,” Cousins said. “And that’s the way it’s always been, that’s the way it always needs to be, no matter what the names are in the room. We need to all be working together to help one another be the best we can be.”
Such comments are a positive for all involved but don’t change the views of some that the Falcons “will almost certainly” replace Cousins atop the depth chart with Penix after the 2025 campaign unless the veteran requests a trade as soon as next offseason.
