Heading into the final year of his contract with the Minnesota Vikings in 2023, Kirk Cousins obviously had to know the team was ready to start looking toward the future at quarterback. And after he went down with a season-ending Achilles injury midway through the year, the Vikings' decision to move on got even easier.
It's not that Minnesota was ready to discard the veteran completely. It's just that the franchise was looking to take things on a year-to-year basis, whereas Cousins was looking for long-term security, which is why he opted to sign a four-year, $180 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons in March 2024.
Two and a half months later, of course, the Vikings opted to put the future of the franchise in the hands of J.J. McCarthy, selecting the Michigan quarterback with the 10th overall pick.
Two picks earlier, however, the Falcons shocked everyone—including Cousins—by taking a quarterback of their own at No. 8 overall, selecting Washington's Michael Penix Jr.
Cousins handled the surprising selection like a true professional, saying all the things one is supposed to say in that situation. But with the release of the second season of the hit Netflix series Quarterback, his true feelings on what went down were revealed.
"I wasn't expecting us to take a quarterback," Cousins said. "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."
Kirk Cousins says his decision to leave the Vikings was initially easy
As mentioned, the Vikings seemed prepared to keep Cousins but were looking at short-term contracts. And as the Michigan State alum reiterated on Quarterback, that made his decision to move on from Minnesota much simpler.
"It became clear that we were going to be there year-to-year—and that's what we didn't want," Cousins said. "At that point, we said, 'Alright, we need to look elsewhere, and if that's our only option, we'll be back.' And when we said, 'Well, we looked around, and we found there's an opportunity that would be a longer commitment, would you be interested in giving us that longer commitment?' They said, 'Nope. We're good with our offer.' I said, 'OK, you made my decision really easy.'"
The 36-year-old clearly seems to regret his decision, at least from a football standpoint. It's hard to believe he's unhappy with the contract he signed, as he received $100 million in guaranteed money from the Falcons, who ultimately benched him in favor of Penix late last season.
So, even if he never takes another snap in Atlanta, Cousins at least got the long-term money he wanted.