Falcons' Kirk Cousins Talks 2024 NFL Season, Michael Penix Jr., More in B/R Interview

Kirk Cousins heard your jokes.

The Atlanta Falcons made waves on Aug. 19 when they shared a birthday playlist for their 36-year-old quarterback that included popular songs from his formative years that some of his younger teammates may have never even heard.

The internet had its fun with the playlist that included The Killers, Jimmy Eat World, Foo Fighters, Green Day and Blink-182, among other bands, and the reactions were amusing to Cousins.

"It's funny how much mileage that content got," he told Bleacher Report. "But it goes to show that when you get to 36, the songs you listened to at 15, 16, 17, 18 are not quite as current as maybe I thought they were. And you realize this is getting traction because it's two decades old and I listened to them two decades ago. Time flies."

Time flies so much that Cousins now finds himself with the Falcons in the latter stages of an NFL career that started when Washington drafted him in 2012 and includes an impressive six-year stretch with the Minnesota Vikings.

While this offseason is not the first time he switched teams, he is now expected to play the role of veteran and experienced leader who, along with new head coach Raheem Morris, is tasked with turning around a franchise coming off six straight losing seasons.

But even veteran leaders have to adjust to new playbooks, new surroundings and new teammates.

"We haven't played a game yet, but I feel like I've been here a long time," he said of his new team. "Between 11 weeks of OTAs, six weeks of preseason and training camp, it adds up to about 17 weeks and the season is 17 games. A lot of time on task so far, but we haven't done the real thing. There's going to be some newness the first time going out there playing a home game for the Falcons and having it be the real thing.

"I really like our group and I like the chemistry we're building, but now we've gotta go do it on a bigger stage."

Players who switch teams often have to adjust to life off the field as well, but that has been easier for Cousins considering his wife, Julie, is from the Atlanta area. He was quite familiar with the city well before signing with the Falcons and now has time to enjoy what it has to offer following his offseason decision.

"The aquarium is cool," he said. "Many times you'll see a nice aquarium near a coast, so it's kind of fun to have an aquarium of this caliber in a city that the ocean is several hours away. That makes for a fun thing because there are animals that if you never make it to the ocean you would never see."

Cousins also highlighted the tradition of success for the Atlanta Braves in Major League Baseball and calls himself "a history buff" who "was surprised how much I loved" walking around the Carter Center in the city.

And that city will quickly fall in love with him if he finds a way to maximize the playmakers surrounding him during his first season leading the offense.

Former Falcons head coach Arthur Smith, who was fired after three straight 7-10 seasons, was frequently criticized for failing to get the most out of an offense that included top-10 draft picks in tight end Kyle Pitts (No. 4 overall in 2021), wide receiver Drake London (No. 8 overall in 2022) and running back Bijan Robinson (No. 8 overall in 2023).

While Smith drew much of the blame, quarterback play was also a problem as Desmond Ridder, Marcus Mariota and Taylor Heinicke struggled with consistency the past two seasons.

Atlanta responded by bringing in Cousins, who is a four-time Pro Bowler with the track record of consistency that comes with seven seasons of more than 4,000 passing yards. He also understands how to play with elite playmakers after throwing to Justin Jefferson and Co. with the Vikings in recent years.

"We have training camp to go off of and OTAs to go off of. I do feel like they've been focal points throughout practice," he said of Robinson, London, Pitts and the other skill position players.

"Now practice isn't the game, but if it's any indication I've been really pleased with what they've done and put on tape. I view my role as a quarterback to be a point guard and a distributor and to get the ball in their hands as quickly as possible to let them be the ones to go make the plays. Can't wait to be doing the real thing with them."

Being a point guard who gets the most out of his weapons is surely what the Falcons had in mind when they signed Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract this offseason.

But that contract is what made it so stunning when the NFC South team decided to use the No. 8 overall pick on a quarterback in the very same offseason's draft even if there are some fair concerns about a 36-year-old starter coming off a torn Achilles.

That Michael Penix Jr. is already 24 years old and not as much of a long-term project as some of the other prospects only raised more questions about Atlanta's use of resources.

Still, Cousins is the clear-cut starter heading into the 2024 campaign and is taking it in stride as he plays a mentor role for Penix and the quarterback room as a whole.

"We have good discussions every day in the quarterback room," he said. "It's a working force together, and we all have perspectives and thoughts and we all can learn a lot from each other. It's been a good room and a good camp where we're developing as quarterbacks. I think we've all gotten better."

Cousins is taking some of that leadership from the locker room into the community as well by partnering with Frito-Lay Variety Packs and GENYOUth to fight student hunger and food insecurity.

Frito-Lay is helping spread awareness of food insecurity by donating $300,000 to increase access to 10 million lunches through Grab-and-Go school meal equipment. What's more, it is donating $10,000 through GENYOUth in Cousins' name to help seven schools in the Atlanta community.

While he stressed how important giving back was to him, Cousins also said partnering with Frito-Lay was an easy choice as the new school year starts.

"Frito-Lay Variety Packs are an iconic product," he said. "I remember as a kid, whether it was going over to friends' houses or opening up your school lunch, you hoped and prayed that you'd get a Frito-Lay variety pack chip bag. … Now I have boys who are six and seven going into first grade and kindergarten, so now I'm the parent buying snacks for them and putting them in their school lunches. So it's kind of full circle."

Cousins can bring even more attention to his work in the community off the field by enjoying more success on it, and his focus has now turned to the upcoming season.

About the only thing missing from his resume that includes multiple Pro Bowls, noteworthy contracts, impressive individual statistics and playoff appearances is the Lombardi Trophy, and the Super Bowl is the goal in Atlanta.

But he isn't going to completely define his season by whether it ends with him holding up the coveted trophy.

"You can define success in so many different ways, and I've talked to the team about this," Cousins said. "It's such a results-based business—and it should be—and the Super Bowl becomes the ultimate result. Yet there are so many other metrics to define success.

"Among many, to be able to be a part of helping teammates get to where they want to go would be a big part of my responsibility here and what I would view as success. Helping a lot of young players who are good players, and, as the quarterback, being a part of helping them get to where they want to go would be a privilege."

Snapping the playoff drought and setting the team up for the future beyond his current contract would surely endear Cousins to Falcons fans even more.