It's likely been a bit odd for Minnesota Vikings fans when tuning in to the latest season of Netflix's "Quarterback" docu-series this summer to watch how things went down for Kirk Cousins during his first year as a member of the Atlanta Falcons.
Cousins spent six seasons with the Vikings before bolting to the Falcons for another (undeserving) bag of cash last year. However, the former Minnesota quarterback quickly learned that the grass definitely wasn't greener in Atlanta after they used a first-round pick to select former Washington signal-caller Michael Penix Jr. in the 2024 NFL Draft.
In the first episode of this season's "Quarterback" series, Cousins shared how he felt misled by the Falcons following their decision to draft Penix after signing the former Vikings quarterback.
These comments from Cousins have led to plenty of reactions, including one from former Minnesota offensive lineman Jeremiah Sirles, who didn't hold back with his response to the veteran quarterback during a recent episode of "The OLine Committee: An NFL Offensive Line Show".
"Welcome to the real world of the NFL. Welcome to not being 'The Guy.' That's what happens. [In] the NFL, the liars lie and the lies lie, everyone's a liar. So you finally made it to year 13 before you felt truly lied to.
Welcome to the club, man. That's how this works. That's how the entire NFL works."
Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins gets a dose of reality after leaving the Minnesota Vikings
During Cousins' tenure with the Vikings, he was used to getting his way most of the time, especially in his first few years with the team.
Minnesota practically bent over backward to make him feel as comfortable as possible in their organization, and all that work resulted in him leading the Vikings to just one playoff win in six seasons.
Last year, Minnesota general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and other members of the franchise made the decision that Cousins was no longer going to dictate the direction of the team, and they presented him with a contract offer that they probably knew he wasn't going to like.
Unsurprisingly, Cousins went chasing after the bag instead of remaining with a team where life would've likely continued to be comfortable and easy, and it quickly came back to bite him.
Luckily for Cousins, he's still due to make $27.5 million in cash from Atlanta this year, so he should have a few dollars lying around to wipe any tears he ends up having when it comes to time to sit on the bench next season.