FLOWERY BRANCH – Quarterback Kirk Cousins, after signing his new lucrative deal with the Falcons that is worth up to $180 million, pronounced Wednesday night that he’s here to help the Falcons win the Super Bowl.
“Absolutely thrilled to be an Atlanta Falcon,” Cousins said during his introductory press conference. “Our family, my wife’s family, has some ties to Georgia and the great city of Atlanta. We are so excited to be here. I spent six offseasons here training and being in the city. So, it feels like home. It’s been home away from home for so many years now.”
The 35-year-old Cousins, who will begin his 13th NFL season when he lines up for the Falcons this fall, has plenty of ties to metro Atlanta:
-He married his wife Julie in Roswell and son Turner was born in downtown Atlanta.
-He admits to battling traffic in the metro Atlanta (a common occurrence for most drivers in the area).
-He attended the last two playoff games at the former Georgia Dome in 2016, wins that secured the franchise’s second Super Bowl appearance.
And he’s hitting the ground running as he prepares for the 2024 season at Mercedes-Benz Stadium - with an appearance in the season’s final game as the goal.
“(I) have already been calling teammates and getting to know coaches and trying to catch up on lost time,” Cousins said. “And that’s really where the work now begins, trying to build continuity because that’s the one thing we really don’t have right now, is the continuity.”
Once it became apparent that his time in Minnesota was coming to an end, Cousins, a fourth-round pick by Washington in 2012, said he was impressed from afar with the Falcons.
“When the owner, general manager, head coach (and) quarterback are on the same page, that’s when you really have a chance to go win a Super Bowl,” Cousins said. “As I looked at the Atlanta Falcons, I believe strongly that the owner, head coach, general manager and quarterback can all be on the same page. That’s exciting for me.”
It also helped the Cousins was familiar with new Falcons coach Raheem Morris, who was on the Washington coaching staff 12 years ago when Cousins was drafted out of Michigan State. They spent three seasons together before Morris joined Dan Quinn and the Falcons in 2015.
Cousins had to do some background work on general manager Terry Fontenot.
“I called Drew Brees and I said Drew, you know, I can’t talk to teams, but I can talk to you,” Cousins said. “You worked with Terry for 15 years. Talk to me about him. Drew just raved about him, about his football knowledge. I think it shows in the roster he’s already built here.”
The deal came together quickly. It was announced at 2:26 p.m. by Cousins’ agent Mike McCartney, a little over two hours after the opening of the league’s legal-tampering period.
“I stayed pretty passive to the process,” Cousins said. “I’ve learned through the years that you hire an agent. You let the agent, do his job. You let the teams do their homework. You make yourself available, but I was pretty much out of it. I was in Michigan taking my son Turner to his fifth birthday party. Just trying to kind of live my offseason life and let the business take care of itself….I’m thrilled where it ended up.”
Cousins has studied the Falcons’ offensive players.
“I see playmakers on the outside,” Cousins said. “I see an offensive line that’s talented. That’s played together. That is well-coached. I see good people. You win with people and I just see really good people who want to do things the right way. They want to put the work in. They want to be coached. I’m just thrilled to be able to be a part of this group and to go chase a common goal together.”
