Getty Quarterback Kirk Cousins #18 of the Atlanta Falcons.
The Atlanta Falcons went where the Minnesota Vikings weren’t willing to go, offering Kirk Cousins a lucrative $180 million contract as he hopes to prove the Falcons right on their investment — especially in a potential revenge matchup with the Vikings.
Upon the NFL’s release of the 2024 schedule, Cousins addressed his feelings on arguably the biggest game for him, when his Falcons visit the Vikings in Week 14
“It’ll be a unique experience,” Cousins said May 15 on ESPN’s “NFL Live. “So many familiar faces, so many people that mean so much to me and my family, so many great memories in that stadium, in that city. It’ll be a mix of emotions. We’ll see once we get there, but that’s certainly a game you’re aware of when the schedules come out.”
In addition to the game itself, Cousins admitted his return to Minnesota will weigh heavily on his emotions from when the Falcons touch down on the tarmac to entering U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
“A lot of emotions do hit you,” Cousins said about returning to what used to be a home venue as a visiting player. “As you touch down, land in the plane, bus to the hotel and you realize you’re going to the away hotel, not the home team hotel. As you head to the stadium and you see different security guards around the tunnel, the entrance that used to be for you, and now they’re against you.”
Falcons’ Kirk Cousins Shows No Love Lost for the Vikings, Hints at Lack of Security in Minnesota
GettyQuarterback Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons.
In a May 14 appearance on the “Bussin With The Boys” podcast, Cousins detailed that the Vikings’ treatment of him did not change even in his final days with the organization.
However, his desire for multiple years guaranteed played a deciding factor in his choosing the Falcons in free agency.
“They were great, and they always were. They were always great,” Cousins said of the Vikings. “It was just that the structure – and structure is what is always kind of driven the conversation for me – the structure was more on a year-to-year basis. And I thought, ‘You know, I don’t think that’s the direction I’d like to go.”
The keyword was “structure” in Cousins’ final interview as a Viking. Entering the twilight of his career, he had hoped for a deal that would give him long-term security, while the Vikings had ambitions of drafting a quarterback of the future since the new regime arrived in 2022.
Kirk Cousins Sells Minnesota Home for Over $1 Million
GettyKirk Cousins
According to property records, Cousins’ Minnesota home was sold this week for over $1 million.
The Inver Grove Heights property was listed as sold on Trulia for $1.25 million on May 14. Cousins’ family purchased the property for $738,000 in June 2018 after he signed his original three-year contract with the Vikings in March that year.
Cousins’ home was featured throughout Netflix’s “Quarterback” docuseries that followed him for the 2023 season.
It was also a convenient 12-minute drive from the Vikings’ training facility, the TCO Performance Center, in Eagan, Minnesota.
Trevor Squire is a sports journalist covering the NFL and NBA for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks. Trevor studied journalism at the University of Minnesota — Twin Cities, making stops at the Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. You can reach him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @trevordsquire. More about Trevor Squire
