Kirk Cousins revealed how he felt “misled” after the Atlanta Falcons drafted quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
Kirk Cousins Reveals Feelings Towards Falcons And Michael Penix
Kirk Cousins said he felt misled when the Atlanta Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. after he signed the contract on Netflix’s Quarterback pic.twitter.com/UAzlZs9ekL
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) July 8, 2025
Netflix released Quarterback season 2 on Tuesday. Cousins is one of the featured quarterbacks alongside Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Detroit’s Jared Goff.
After spending six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons during the 2024 offseason.
Cousins signed with the intention that he would be the starter for the long term. Then, the Falcons shocked Cousins and the football world by taking Penix in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Cousins spoke about how he felt “misled” in an episode of Quarterback.
“I ended up signing with Atlanta and was pretty excited about the chance to get down there and start fresh. And then, I was pretty surprised when the NFL draft happened,” Cousins said. “I wasn’t expecting us to take a quarterback so high. At the time, it felt like I had been a little bit misled, or certainly, if I had the information around free agency, it certainly would’ve affected my decision.”
Cousins had no plans of leaving Minnesota. Once Cousins learned that Minnesota wanted to take it year-to-year with him, he looked for opportunities elsewhere.
“I didn’t want to leave Minnesota,” Cousins said. “There was nothing about anywhere that made me want to leave Minnesota. We wanted to be in Minnesota, but it became clear that we were gonna be there year to year. And that’s what we didn’t want. At that point, we said, ‘We need to look elsewhere. If that’s our only option, then we’ll be back.’ And when we said, ‘Well, we looked around and there’s an opportunity that’d be a longer commitment. Would you be interested in giving us that longer commitment?’ They said, ‘Nope, we’re good with our offer.’ And I said, “OK, you made my decision really easy.'”
Despite his reservations over the Penix decision, Cousins knows the NFL is a business, one where he must “earn” his spot.
“I had no reason to leave Minnesota with how much we loved it there if both teams are going to be drafting a quarterback that high,” Cousins added. “But I’ve also learned in 12 years in this league that you’re not entitled to anything. It’s all about being able to earn your spot and prove yourself.”
Kirk Cousins Will Remain In Atlanta For Now
JOE BURROW
KIRK COUSINS
JARED GOFFQuarterback Season 2 premieres July 8. pic.twitter.com/mTach9bzQr
— Netflix (@netflix) June 23, 2025
As things stand, Penix enters Falcons training camp as the starting quarterback. Cousins is listed as the backup.
The Falcons could have traded Cousins earlier this offseason for draft picks. However, Atlanta chose to keep Cousins since they would have to pay him his guaranteed money whether he was traded or released.
Cousins is set to make a base salary of $27.5 million in 2025.
The Falcons can move on from Cousins after the season. Releasing Cousins would result in a dead-cap hit of $45 million.
