Kirk Cousins addresses tampering allegations over $180,000,000 Falcons move

The Kirk Cousins era in Minnesota officially came to an end in 2024 free agency when the quarterback chose to sign with the Atlanta Falcons. His move to the new franchise, however, wasn't much of a surprise.

It turns out Cousins already spoke to the Falcons’ head athletic trainer when the only permitted communication had to be restricted to his agent and the franchise. The NFL promptly took notice of the situation and launched an investigation into the Falcons potentially tampering to get Kirk Cousins to sign in free agency.

Cousins addressed reporters at a press conference ahead of OTAs this week. Answering a question about the tampering situation, Cousins said:

“The league’s still kinda going through that so I’ll let them do it but there’s not a whole lot there.”

More evidence of Falcons' potential tampering in Kirk Cousins free agency chase

Soon after signing with the Falcons in free agency, Cousins told reporters that Kyle Pitts was among the first to reach out to him.

Cousins said:

"It's always good to feel wanted. He did a great job leading the charge."

Before he signed with Atlanta, ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio reported that he had overhead Cousins was strongly leaning towards the Falcons. When Pitts heard of that report, he tweeted, saying:

"This actually is funny. You guys come up with anything."

There was little hope that the NFL would conclude its tampering investigation before the 2024 NFL Draft.

With the draft now done and dusted, the Falcons will wait with bated breath for the culmination of the investigation. The Philadelphia Eagles are also being investigated by the league over potential tampering with Saquon Barkley.

Between the tampering investigation and the Falcons drafting Michael Penix Jr. with the 8th overall pick in the draft, the Cousins era in Atlanta is not off to the smoothest of starts.