Kirk Cousins 'really excited' to work with new wide receivers

Despite the Atlanta Falcons using their most recent first-round draft selection on Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., most expect newly signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to be the team’s starter ahead of the 2024 season. The team signed Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract in March as he enters the 13th season of his career.

Cousins is coming off of a season-ending Achilles injury suffered last October, and even though he’s not yet at 100%, he has been participating on the field in the Falcons OTAs this offseason. He opened up to the media at OTAs about what it’s been like working with his new set of weapons on offense.

“Just really excited about playing with them,” Cousins said. “They’re great people, they’re hard workers.”

“Probably my favorite part of the job right now is watching film, playing catch with, routes on air, having conversations, sending texts to guys like Kyle Pitts, Drake London, (Darnell) Mooney, Rondale (Moore), Bijan (Robinson), Tyler (Allgeier), Carlos (Washington). I mean the list goes on and on,” Cousins said.

Between the NFL Draft and offseason acquisitions, there’s no question that the Falcons have poured plenty of resources into rebuilding the skill positions of their offense. They’ll now look upon Cousins to elevate a unit that has underachieved at the position ever since the departure of Matt Ryan following the 2021 season.

“I just am excited to be a point guard and they’re the shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center,” Cousins added. “And I’m just distributing the football, getting the ball out of my hands and getting the ball into theirs.”

Atlanta improved from the 31st to the 22nd passing offense in the league from 2022 to 2023, and now that they’re hoping that the quarterback who ranks fifth in passing yards and fourth in passing touchdowns among active players can help improve them even more this year. Potentially taking a promising offense to new heights ahead of a highly anticipated season in Atlanta.

“So that’s probably my favorite part of the job right now is trying to help them get to where they want to go. But knowing that they’re going to need a little bit of help to do that and I can’t wait to be a part of getting them where they want to go,” Cousins concluded.