What Kirk Cousins’ free agency boiled down to was the Falcons‘ willingness to go further than the Vikings. It’s that simple.
According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, his agent, Mike McCartney, was negotiating deals with both the Falcons and Vikings brass, leveraging offers against each side. Once it was made clear that Atlanta was willing to go further contractually, it was the beginning of the end.
Terry Fontenot, Raheem Morris, and Arthur Blank wanted Kirk Cousins bad enough to give him a deal that fully guaranteed salaries in 2024 and 2025, which effectively assures the veteran will be a starter in Atlanta both years. Moreover, Fontenot and the Falcons guaranteed $10 million of the 2026 salary and offered an average annual value north of $40 million, something the Vikings certainly weren’t going to do, per Breer.
In the end, the Falcons offered more per year and more guarantees, showing how badly they wanted Kirk Cousins. He wanted to feel wanted, and money was the easiest way to do so, but the new Falcons signal caller brought upon a different perspective that takes root from the same seed, telling Erinie Johnson and Charles Barkley the alignment of Arthur Blank, Terry Fontenot, Raheem Morris and himself gives them a better chance of winning a Super Bowl, compared to Minnesota.
Obviously, Cousins is going to talk up his new team, and we all know what he means by “alignment” in this context — $$$.
Cousins wanted the security, and the Falcons wanted him and were willing to give him what he needed. The Vikings, on a different timeline, clearly didn’t see Cousins as a viable starter in the same capacity as the Falcons, particualrly the length in which he could be a capable starter.
The Falcons viewed Cousins as the missing piece, while the Vikings saw him as a bridge option to the eventual successor. He thinks he can still lead a team to the Super Bowl, and Atlanta believes the same; that’s the alignment.
I don’t think he was purposefully taking a shot at his former team, but if the Falcons owner-GM-head coach-quarterback alignment is the best opportunity to win a Super Bowl, then the Vikings’ trio of Zygi Wilf, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, and Kevin O’Connell simply are not in Cousins’ mind.
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