Remember prior to free agency when a report surface that Kirk Cousins was talking to Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts about wearing the No. 8?
Pitts came out and immediately dismissed the rumor, calling it nonsense even though there probably was some truth to it. Cousins did end up signing with the Falcons, after all.
However, Cousins settled on the No. 18.
Why?
Well, Cousins says that Pitts gave him his blessing to wear No. 8, but that NFL rules made it difficult. If Cousins took Pitts’ number, he would have had to buy all of the Pitts jerseys on the market.
Yes, seriously.
“He wanted to switch numbers anyways, so it was a perfect fit. He was like, I want to switch numbers, you want No. 8, so it was perfect,” Cousins said, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “And then the league spoke on it. It was like, ‘Kyle Pitts has a lot of jerseys that are No. 8 with Pitts on the back. You would have to buy every single one.’ Both of us would have to write the check. It was several hundred thousand. So I was like, I’m good with 18. And Kyle was like, I’m good with 8. So we’re going with 8 and 18.”
Cousins has worn the No. 8 as far back as high school, so switching numbers will certainly be different for him. But I guess it’s not worth the trouble.
The 35-year-old signed a massive four-year, $180 million deal with Atlanta last month. The contract features a hefty $100 million in guaranteed money.
Cousins spent the last six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, making three trips to the Pro Bowl. He entered the NFL with the Washington Redskins in 2012 and served as Robert Griffin III’s backup for his first three years before winning the starting job in 2015. He made one Pro Bowl in Washington.
The Falcons were immediately named NFC South favorites upon acquiring Cousins, but that largely hinges on how Kirk Cousins recovers from the torn Achilles he suffered midway through last season.
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