Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins insists he’s not mad at the Falcons for drafting quarterback Michael Penix.
Cousins was asked on Working with the boys podcast if there is a fight between him and the Falcons over the draft, and Cousins responded, “No, I don’t think there could be. I don’t think it’s helpful.”
Cousins said his only priority is winning.
“We’re trying to win the Super Bowl and that’s hard enough. So let’s all be on the same page and try to win the Super Bowl,” Cousins said.
Still, Penix only helps the Falcons win the Super Bowl in a scenario where he replaces Cousins. If the Falcons wanted to win a Super Bowl with Cousins, the best option would have been to use the No. 8 overall pick on a player who can be part of building a winning team around Cousins. But Cousins said he can’t worry about that.
“You’re reminded again that there are things you control and there are a lot of things you don’t control,” Cousins said.
Cousins said that one year when he was the Vikings’ starting quarterback, they told him hours before the draft began that they might spend their first-round pick on a quarterback. The Vikings didn’t draft a quarterback, but Cousins said the experience served as a reminder that no player can assume his team won’t draft his replacement.
“This wasn’t a foreign concept. This is the NFL. Anything can happen,” Cousins said.
Cousins knew anything could happen, but no one expected the Falcons to spend the eighth pick in the draft on a quarterback. And that raises the question of how patient the Falcons will be in their quest to win a Super Bowl with Cousins, and when they will head to Penix.