Kirk Cousins on how long he wants to play in NFL
Kirk Cousins signed a four-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons but is looking to play in the NFL beyond his current deal. While appearing on Bussin with The Boys, Cousins was asked about his future in the league and said he wants to play for a “long time.”
“I’d like to play out this contract and maybe do one more,” Cousins revealed. “…The boys will have a big play in it because if they’re saying, ‘Hey dad, we’d really like to have you stop,’ I’m done. But if they’re like ‘Dad, you can’t quit. You got to go. We’re enjoying this. This is fun,’ I would go. …They love it right now.”
Cousins signed with the Falcons over the Minnesota Vikings during the offseason because he was planning to play out the rest of his career in Atlanta. That took a turn when the team drafted Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 overall if Cousins does play out his current contract, Penix will be sitting on the bench for four years, and that’s not going to happen.
Had Cousins known about the Falcons drafting a quarterback before signing, would he have joined the team? “I don’t really deal in hypotheticals,” he told reporters this week. “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 a quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, and I’m trying to make good on the opportunity that they’ve given me with the way I work each day and the way we play this fall.”
Kirk Cousins knows the NFL is all about competition
Cousins is all about moving forward and helping the Falcons win their first Super Bowl in franchise history. During his press conference, Cousins talked about his relationship with Penix.
“Mike’s been great. Always going to be competition in this league,” Cousins said. “You always got to go out and earn it. I’m going to control what I can control and also understand there’s a lot you don’t control. I learned a long time ago that you got to focus on what you can control.”
After Penix was drafted, Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot made it clear that Cosuins is QB1. “Kirk Cousins is our quarterback,” Fontenot said, per the Falcons’ official website. “We’re very excited about Kirk, very excited about this team. (With) Michael Penix we’re talking about the future. The draft is you look at the future and you look at big picture.”