Kirk Cousins discloses NFL's "several $100,000" demand for switching to No. 18 jersey number: "I don't want to write that check"
Kirk Cousins is beginning a new chapter of his career.
Last month, the four time Pro Bowler signed a mosntrous four-year, $180-million deal with the Atlanta Falcons. Cousins is expected to solve the quarterback woes that had been haunting the team ever since Matt Ryan's departure two years ago.
But more than just a new team and coaching staff, Cousins is also changing something else: his jersey number. Having worn No. 8 for his entire career, he will instead don 18. And the reason for that has something to do with tight end Kyle Pitts, as he relayed to Shaquille O'Nean and Adam Lefkoe on The Big Podcast:
"So he wanted to switch numbers anyways. It was like a perfect fit... And then the league spoke into it. They're like, 'Well, Kyle Pitts has a lot of jerseys that are number 8 with 'Pitts' on the back. You would have to buy every single one.' Both of us would have to just write the check.
"And I was like, 'Well, what is it?' It was a big number. And I was like, 'I don't want to write that check. I'm good.' It was several 100,000$. So I was like, 'I'm good with 18 and Kyle's like I'm good with 8.' So we're going with 8 and 18."
Kirk Cousins expounds on desire to retire with Atlanta Falcons
When Kirk Cousins was introduced as an Atlanta Falcon for the first time Iast month, he was blunt about why he chose to wear the black and red jersey:
"It felt like this was a place where, if I play at the level I expect to play, that I can retire a Falcon. That was something that really excited me and that's certainly the goal."
In that same podcast appearance, he went deeper and further, making it clear that it would be a Super Bowl or bust for him and his offensive core:
"Most of my story (the fans) would likely know, but they need to know that I'm going to be committed to doing everything I can to help us win a world championship... It's a 365, really, like what do we have to do to win a world championship? That's really my plan."
Cousins also invoked his two sons Cooper and Turner in his argument, noting that they were very young during his days at Washington and Minnesota.
For more context, the former was born in September 2017, in the early days of what would turn out to be his final season in Landover, Maryland. The latter, meanwhile, was born in March 2019, just after his first season in Minneapolis ended.