Kirk Cousins’s first season with the Atlanta Falcons didn’t go as planned. Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million contract last offseason and watched the Falcons draft Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick in the NFL Draft. The 36-year-old shook it off to lead Atlanta to a 6-3 record but injuries and poor performance led to his benching and the Falcons wound up missing the playoffs for a seventh straight year.
It’s a drama that had plenty of surprises along the way and could lead to a trade in the coming months. But the biggest may have come on Wednesday morning when it was revealed that it was all caught on tape.
Falcons QB Kirk Cousins to Co-Star in Second Season of "Quarterback"
Netflix announced on Wednesday morning that Cousins will be one of three quarterbacks featured in the second season of Peyton Manning’s Quarterback docuseries. The series will also feature Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff as it makes its return after pivoting to Receiver last season.
Cousins will be featured on Quarterback for the second time after appearing in the inaugural season in 2022. While Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs and former Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota were also featured, Cousins became the star as he led the Vikings to a 13-4 season and endeared himself to a national audience.
While the previous appearance was entertaining, Cousins’s encore could be downright cinema. The NFL Films crew may not have followed Cousins as he tore his Achilles tendon in his final year with Minnesota. But it could be a key storyline as he became acclimated in Atlanta. The elbow and shoulder issues that caused Cousins’ decline could also be documented and the Falcons’ “clerical error” relating to those injuries could be caught in 4K.
There are also other storylines such as what led to Cousins’s benching, his Dec. 8 return to Minnesota, and his relationship with Penix, who took over as the Falcons' starting quarterback a few weeks later.
Considering Cousins’ initial appearance on the docuseries may have played a role in getting such a large contract last offseason, the sequel could be better than the original. It leaves Falcons fans with a chance to indulge in some absolute cinema as Cousins continues to look for his next team.