Would Kirk Cousins have signed with Falcons if he knew they'd select Michael Penix Jr. in 2024 draft?

In the spring of 2024, veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins didn't deny that he may not have left the Minnesota Vikings to sign with the Atlanta Falcons in free agency had he known that Atlanta would select signal-caller Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick of last year's draft. 

In comments shared during an episode of the Netflix series "Quarterback," which premiered Tuesday, Cousins admitted that he felt "a little bit misled" after the Falcons drafted Penix. 

"Certainly, if I had the information around free agency, it certainly would've affected my decision," Cousins explained, per Marc Raimondi of ESPN. "I had no reason to leave Minnesota with how much we loved it there if both teams are going to be drafting a quarterback high. 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."

Cousins signed a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M guaranteed to join the Falcons in March 2024. Meanwhile, the Vikings made quarterback J.J. McCarthy the 10th pick of last year's draft but then went 14-3 with Sam Darnold as their QB1. 

As for Cousins, he guided the 2024 Falcons to a 6-3 record before he seemed to have a "dead" arm across five straight games, four of which Atlanta lost. It's now known that he dealt with ankle, shoulder and elbow issues before the Falcons named Penix their starter ahead of Week 16. 

"The information I had at the time, I made the best decision," Cousins said about trying to play through injury setbacks. "You also know that if you sit down Week 10 and take two or three weeks or more to let it heal, you may never get your job back. ...So that was something I always was aware of, that in this league, if you give someone else the chance, if you want to get 'Wally Pipped' and there's Lou Gehrig behind you, that can happen at the time."

Penix will enter training camp as Atlanta's full-time starter after teams chose not to trade for Cousins before they filled their quarterback rooms via other moves. Some thought the Pittsburgh Steelers could reach out to the Falcons about Cousins' availability, but Pittsburgh instead signed future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers in June. 

It's now thought Cousins could begin the upcoming season as Penix's primary backup if the 36-year-old is still with the Falcons when training camp practices get underway later this month. 

"It hurts to go into work, but you got to be an adult," Cousins said about his situation. "You've got to be a grown man and handle it with maturity. I feel sorry for myself and it's hard to do, but that's what you got to do. And so that's kind of where my focus went."

There's no indication any team is willing to give up assets in order to land Cousins, so he may quietly find himself hoping that Penix struggles when Atlanta opens the campaign with a matchup versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 7.