Falcons sign Kirk Cousins: One-on-one with Atlanta’s new quarterback

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. - Kirk Cousins has officially signed with the Atlanta Falcons. 

Immediately following the official announcement, Cousins sat down for a one-on-one interview with FOX 5 Sports anchor DJ Shockley for an intimate look at his career, his recent injury, and how Atlanta is more like a homecoming. 

He also shared a special message for Falcons fans.

Kirk Cousins on coming to Atlanta

DJ Shockley: "I know you spent some time here in Atlanta, but just talk about being back here. What does it mean to you and your family?"

Kirk Cousins: "This is a thrill. We just looked around, and we're so grateful for this opportunity. The way the Lord has orchestrated events to get here and just can't wait to get to work. There's so much work to do to make up for lost time. But we feel that it's a great opportunity as a quarterback to step in here and help lead and be a part of what we're trying to do."

Shockey: "Your wife is from here. You spend a lot of time here. Your boys, you said one of you was born here, right?"

Cousins: "That's right."

Atlanta is a homecoming of sorts for Kirk Cousins

Shockley: "Just take me through the moment you told them. Was it your wife like, ‘OK. Yeah, let's do it.’ Or was it like, your boys, like, ‘let's go back to Atlanta full time.’ What was that like when you told them about the opportunity?"

Cousins: "Yeah, she for a while knew that it was a possibility. But she's always been up for the adventure. And so, if I had told her, hey, we're going to the farthest corners of the earth for football. She'd say, ‘OK, you know, let's go another adventure,’ but I think her family, you know my father-in-law, my mother-in-law, my brother-in-laws, I think this is pretty cool for them. They're sports fans. They followed it for so long, so to have their sister, their daughter, come home like this and we can be a part of it so directly and officially. I think it's a thrill. For everybody in the family."

Kirk Cousins’ ties to UGA

Shockley: "I would love for you to tell fans about your ties to the city and. I know there are a lot of different avenues that that make you an Atlanta Falcon. But also, how did this process get here where you got so many ties to it?"

Cousins: "Yes. So, my wife grew up here, went to UGA, as did her older brothers. As did her parents are the whole basement of my in-law's house is Uga, and red and black and silver britches. And so, I got indoctrinated to that pretty quickly"

Kirk Cousins: Atlanta was always home away from home

Cousins: "Our first date was at Stone Mountain. Our wedding was in Roswell. My second son, Turner, was born on Ted Turner Drive in downtown Atlanta."

Shockley: "It's Turner, right?"

Cousins: "It's Turner, yeah. And so, when we would come here on a bye week, you know? To visit the family, we'd be watching the Falcons. And it's pretty fun now to be a part of it and to officially be involved in this city. Whereas in the past I just. Kind of been home away from home. And so, we're, we're ready to get going."

Kirk Cousins on his Achilles injury

Shockley: "OK, take me through. Obviously, everybody wants to know. How does Achilles? Everybody saw the Achilles injury, but I was looking for stuff and you never really been injured. I mean, you missed two games from 2015 all the way up until you had the Achilles this year. But how's Achilles doing? And what's the process so far?"

Cousins: "It’s been up and to the right, so far. We're four months in. I got about, I would say, you know, three to four months to go and. Got to get with the training room here. You know, with the Falcons and and make up for lost time. Get going, and I expect to, you know, be able to be doing some on-field work as we get going through OTA's and, hopefully near the end before the summer break, really be able to do the team reps, but we gotta take it one day at a time and try to get there."

Shockley: "I remember you talking about your first ever surgery, right?"

Cousins: "Yes."

Shockley: "What's the process been like so far of learning of ‘OK, now I have to take things slow. I can't, you know, be on the field.’ I mean, what's that process like for you?"

Cousins: "I was nervous about ‘is this going to be boring? Am I going to be going crazy?’ Yeah, but it was positive. You know, I think, first of all, the training staff in Minnesota did a great job keeping spirits up. Having a plan, you know, you build a relationship with the guys who are in there. Who are rehabbing together, and you know, we just kept meeting markers, kept making the next mini-goal. Chasing those mini-goals, and we're still doing that, and I'm excited about getting in here and getting going and eventually getting out here in football cleats and moving like a football player again?"

Why was Kirk Cousins sold on the Falcons?

Shockley: "No doubt, no doubt. Alright, so what sold you on this organization? Obviously, there are a lot of different pieces, but what sold you on… ‘I want to take my next step, my next part of my career to Atlanta?’"

Cousins: "I could go on and on about the positives of being an Atlanta Falcons and I could tell you a bunch of different things. But I think it ultimately would boil down to the fact that I believe, and you've lived this too. I think you know this, when the owner, general manager, head coach and quarterback are on the same page and everybody in that link trusts one another to do their part. I think that's when you have the best chance to win a Super Bowl. And when I looked around, I felt that Atlanta met that criteria. That those four people, I think we're all going to trust each other and believe that we're doing our part individually to help us all win a Super Bowl and, ultimately, that's what it boils down to."

Kirk Cousins on his career success

Shockley: "What do you think of tributes to your success? Because I mean, you've had tons of success in your career: seven seasons over 4,000 yards, you've had eight years, where you know, you throwing 25-plus touchdowns. That's hard to do in this league. I played in this league, it’s tough to do. You got a lot of fast dudes on the other side. But what do you think contributes to that success that you've had? Of course, other guys around you."

Cousins: "Right, that'd be my first answer. I've been very fortunate. To have great coaches and great players, that's where it starts, and I think that's what I'll have here in Atlanta as well. I think that ultimately, as a quarterback, it comes down to: great decision-making, can you be accurate, and can you be consistent and if you can do those things? The production will be there, the winds will be there. But. Before all that, you do need to have great people around you. And that's why we're so excited to be a Falcon."

Shockley: "Talk about the first person that reached out to you, because I know you got teammates that reach out to you when you come to a new environment. What was that first conversation like with whoever reached out to you?"

Cousins: "Sure. Yeah, Kyle Pitts is recruiting me early before we even got the free agency."

Shockley: "Oh man."

Cousins: "He was texting and did a great job making me feel wanted. And then I was pretty proactive once it got out that we were going to be agreeing to a contract. I started calling, you know, calling teammates and trying to introduce myself and. And so, you know, I was trying to get ahead of it a little bit. I'm really impressed with the caliber of guys we have on this team."

What is Kirk Cousins' new jersey number?

Shockley: "Now, Kyle, we know is a guy who wears a particular number."

Cousins: "Yeah, right."

Shockley: "And it's blowing up all over social media."

Cousins: "Yes."

Shockley: "What is he gonna wear? What is Kirk gonna go with? Where does that stand right now?"

Cousins: "Yeah."

Shockley: "I know you guys have had the… I've had that conversation."

Cousin: "So we have it. I don't have an update. I don't even know the rules of the league. They may have rules that say, hey, Kyle's not allowed to switch his numbers. So, we still have a lot to learn, but. Kyle made it, made it available to be switched. He told me he's open to that. I told him I'm open to switching myself, so I just want to be a good teammate, and we'll see what the league says."

Shockley: "When you look at, obviously you know Ross, since your time in Washington. Zach Robinson, another guy who comes from, you know, a really good tree of coaches. What about Rah, Terry Fontenot, Zach Robinson, that intrigued you?"

Cousins: "Yeah, I can go on and on about all three of them. Think, Zach, you know coming from LA. Where I've worked with Sean McVeigh and, you know, should be some continuity there. As far as the language and how we replays, I think that will help. I think we'll be speaking the same language quite a bit from the start. I was with Ron Washington for two years. I know his demeanor, the way he leads. His cheerful personality. I just think it's a great fit, and then you know, seeing the success that Terry has had building this roster. But then also going back to his days in New Orleans. Knowing what it took there to win, I just think it lines up well for a lot of people who have seen it done at a high level and led well, and I'm thrilled to be able to be a part of it now moving forward."

Kirk Cousins’ message to Falcons fans

Shockley: "I saw a really cool video of you thanking Minnesota. Classy moment for sure. Now you're in Atlanta. What do you say to the Falcon fans?"

Cousins: "Yeah, I'm just… I'm just thrilled to be here. This is an opportunity of a lifetime. It's a true privilege to be able to quarterback the Falcons. And I don't take that lightly. And I believe that with that privilege comes a lot of responsibility and I've got a big. Big job to do and I need to be held accountable and I'm looking forward to the challenge to not only, you know, get myself ready to play, but to get others around me ready to go and that doesn't start, you know in several months, it starts tomorrow, the work and building this team the right way and we got to get our hands there to get to work."

Shockley: "Well, that's like a lot of people love the chain. They love the swagger and all that. Does that continue as we go through a city that's used to having that kind of lore?"

Cousins: "No doubt I've always said if we're winning, all that stuff is great. The chain thing doesn't work really well if you're not winning. So, I expect to win and as a result I expect all the fun to go with it. But I want to bring my full force of personality here and I think the change is part of that."

Shockley: "Last question I got for you. The draft is coming up. Tell me your draft experience. Falcons gonna be at the draft. Tell me about your draft experience and what that was like."

Cousins: "Yeah, I was a fourth-round pick at the time. I thought I had an outside chance to being a first round pick. But I thought I might go in the second or third and I watched Thursday go by. Watch Friday go by. I went to bed Friday night. You know, a little discouraged I didn't get picked, but I remember when Mike Shanahan called me and said I'm taking you early in the fourth-round and I thought you know. Mike Shanahan knows a thing or two about quarterbacks. He's picking me. That's a good sign. It ended up being the best thing for my career to get to work with the people that I got to work with those early years and get a foundation. Including Raheem Morris being there. You can see how God's hand is over it and directing our steps, and it is now 12 years later, to Atlanta, and we just feel like we're living a dream and want to finish. Strong here in Atlanta."

Shockley: "We're glad to have you, man. And then let's go win a lot of games, brother."

Cousins: "Yeah, absolutely."

Kirk Cousins deal with the Atlanta Falcons

The four-time Pro Bowl quarterback and the Falcons agreed on a $180 million, four-year deal with $100 million guaranteed and a $50 million signing bonus.

Cousins most recently spent six years with the Vikings, but missed half of the 2023 season due to an Achilles tendon injury. Prior to that, he was quarterback for the Washington Commanders. 

Atlanta had a glaring need at quarterback after cycling through Tyler Heinicke and Desmond Ridder last season, and Cousins' wife, Julie, grew up in the metro area. 

Cousins had a 103.8 passer rating in eight games for the Vikings last season, which was still the third best in the league despite the lost time. 

The epitome of a late bloomer, Cousins enjoyed largely the most effective performances of his career since the Vikings hired coach Kevin O'Connell in 2022. 

Cousins has not only been the consummate overachiever on the field, from afterthought college recruit to fourth-round draft pick to currently 24th place on the NFL's all-time list in career passing yards (39,471), but he has mastered the business side of the game with the guidance of his agent Mike McCartney.

After playing on consecutive franchise tags for Washington in 2016 and 2017, Cousins cashed in as the rare starting quarterback to hit free agency in 2018 when the Vikings had salary cap space and a pressing need at the position after an NFC championship game appearance. He got the first fully guaranteed, multi-year contract in league history for a quarterback when he signed for $84 million.

Just over the past eight seasons, Cousins has earned more than $228 million. He has won only one playoff game, after the 2019 season. 

The Vikings restructured Cousins' deal a year ago without giving him any new money, resulting in a $28.5 million salary cap hit in 2024 for the remaining signing bonus proration if they didn't reach an extension before the new league year officially starts on Wednesday afternoon.