The 2024 National Football League season could have looked very different if the Atlanta Falcons had let slip that they planned on selecting Michael Penix Jr in the first round of the draft.

There may have been no Sam Darnold redemption story in Minnesota for a start, after former Vikings incumbent, and Falcons free agent capture, Kirk Cousins revealed that he would have though twice about heading for the deep south had he been aware of Atlanta’s intentions.

Speaking as part of the second season of Quarterback on Netflix, Cousins admitted that, had he been alerted to the fact that he was going to be thrown into a QB competition, he may have opted to remain in Minnesota, where he had forged a solid bond with lead receiver Justin Jefferson. Although he has largely kept his silence on the drafting of Penix just weeks after he put pen to paper on a contract worth a minimum of $100m, Cousins has now conceded that he felt that he had been ‘misled’ by the Falcons, especially by using a first round pick on the rookie.

“Certainly, if I’d had the information around free agency, it certainly would’ve affected my decision,” the veteran admitted in the first episode of Quarterback season two, which aired this week. “I had no reason to leave Minnesota with how much we loved it there, even if both teams are going to be drafting a quarterback high. But I’ve also learned in 12 years in this league that you’re not entitled to anything. It’s all about being able to earn your spot and prove yourself.”

With Cousins heading out of the building despite being offered a contract extension, the Vikings used their first round pick in the 2024 draft on Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, who was taken two spots behind Penix in 10th overall. That selection might still have been made if Minnesota were looking to a future beyond Cousins, but the rookie would almost certainly have had time to learn behind the veteran.

Cousins said he knew nothing of Atlanta’s intentions until he received a telephone call while the franchise was on the clock, but continued to throw himself into the role of starter in a city that meant a lot to him and wife Julie as the site of their marriage in 2014. The one-time Washington Redskins QB — having been drafted just two rounds after the team took Robert Griffin III as their first pick in 2012 — was pictured working alongside Penix throughout the preseason, and was subsequently named as starter, leading the Falcons to a 6-3 record, despite some shaky performances under center that were largely attributed to him still feeling his way back from the Achilles injury that ended his 2023 campaign.

Atlanta’s season started to unravel after that, however, and Cousins admitted that an arm injury he suffered in the Week 10 came against New Orleans played a bigger part than he had anticipated in the run of four defeats that led his eventual replacement by the former Washington State star.

“I knew I [had] irritated something,” Cousins said of the hit. “I had shooting pain right through inside my elbow [and then] my shoulder started to really throb, so I knew right away, like, ‘Okay, this is a little more serious’. Once I lost my shoulder and my elbow, I didn’t have many other places to lean on to get the power I needed.”

“But you also know that, if you sit in Week 10 and take two or three weeks or more to let it heal, you may never get your job back,” Cousins added, reflecting on the period in which he threw zero touchdown passes but gave up eight interceptions having told the Falcons training staff that he was only ‘badly bruised’. “I remember reading in Drew Brees’ book … how he made the point that he tried to never let his backup see the field — even if it was somebody who was really no threat. So that was something I always was aware of.”

Surprisingly, especially given that Penix appeared to have cemented the starting job at a fraction of the cost of keeping Cousins on the roster, Atlanta decided to stump up a $10m roster bonus rather than seeking a potential trade partner for the veteran, who looks likely to start the 2025 campaign as the most expensive backup in the league.