Kirk Cousins opens up about Falcons drafting Michael Penix Jr.

It's now hardly a secret that veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins did not expect the Atlanta Falcons to spend the eighth overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft on signal-caller Michael Penix Jr. as of the morning of April 25.

Cousins once again addressed the topic during an appearance on the latest edition of the "Scoop City" podcast.

"I’ve learned these things have a way of working themselves out," Cousins explained, as shared by Josh Kendall of The Athletic. "If you can play, you’ll always have an opportunity somewhere, and if the other guy can play, he’ll always have an opportunity somewhere. There seems to be a demand on quarterbacks."

Cousins signed a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M guaranteed to join the Falcons in March and largely has said positive things about helping the team win games this season as he also mentors Penix. However, Cousins didn't necessarily deny in May that he could've made a different decision in free agency had he known this past winter those running the club were so desperate to add a young quarterback to the roster via a valuable draft asset.

"You’ve got to earn everything," Cousins pointed out. "You just have to go out and play the best you can and believe that if you play well at the quarterback position, there will always be a team or a market for you to be able to keep playing."

Whispers continue to suggest the Falcons could move on from Cousins, who turns 36-years-old in August, as soon as next offseason depending on how he recovers from the torn right Achilles he suffered last October. While some have linked him with a Dallas Cowboys team that could lose quarterback Dak Prescott to free agency in March 2025, Falcons assistant general manager Kyle Smith insisted on Sunday that he is "excited about" what Cousins can offer the club for the foreseeable future.

"We talk about twitch a lot athletically," Smith said. "He’s got twitch in his brain. When it comes to the game, it’s pretty natural to him. Accurate passer. All the things that you like."

As of early Tuesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook continued to list Atlanta as the betting favorite at -120 odds to win the NFC South division title this season. It's unclear how the Falcons would handle their quarterback situation if they failed to achieve that goal or if they became a one-and-done playoff team with Cousins in the lineup.