FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins has been on a mission to meet his new teammates.
Tight end Kyle Pitts was the first one to reach out. Cousins has had calls with left tackle Jake Matthews, the team chaplain, director of player personnel Ryan Pace, right tackle Kaleb McGary and wide receiver Drake London.
“I said (to his wife) Julie, these guys are sharp,” Cousins said. “I’ve been in locker rooms. I’ve seen what it can look like. I said, these guys are sharp, well-spoken. They want to win. They are humble. I mean, this could be fun. I am always cautious because we have to put the work in.”
After signing the most lucrative contract – four years, up to $180 million – in NFL free-agency history Wednesday, Cousins, who’ll turn 36 in August, can’t wait to start building the continuity that good teams thrive on.
“What we don’t have right now is continuity,” Cousins said. “So, we have to make up for lost time. Learn this system. Spend time together not just on the football field, but off the football field spend time together.
“We need to build continuity, that’s got to be intentional. It’s got to be more than just what’s the NFL allows us to do on the field? We got to be intentional outside of that time.”
So, to make up for lost time, the Falcons likely will have players-only meetings, dinners and workouts before the official offseason program starts in April.
“Make up for lost time,” Cousins said. “That’s really where my focus will be the next couple months.”
The Falcons have been designated as the clear winner of the free-agency period by several outlets. However, they are being investigated for tampering, which is considered a serious violation by the league.
In 2023, the Eagles accused the Cardinals of tampering with defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.
The Cardinals eventually hired him as their head coach. The two teams agreed to a settlement that called for the Eagles to trade the No. 94 pick in the 2023 draft and a 2024 fifth-round pick for the 66th pick in 2023.
In 2015, the Chiefs lost two draft picks (a third- and sixth-rounder) and were fined $100,000 for tampering with wide receiver Jeremy Maclin before the start of the 2015 league year.
The Chiefs were cited for “improper contact” before the start of free agency. Maclin played in Philadelphia for then-new Chiefs coach Andy Reid before signing a five-year, $55-million deal with the Chiefs on March 11, 2015.
The Falcons issued a “no comment” statement about the tampering charges. But after six losing seasons, they probably wouldn’t mind giving up a few draft picks if Cousins can turn them into a winner.
“Every year is a new year,” Cousins said. “The league kind of resets. I’ve learned that when we went 13-4 and then we lost in the playoffs. You don’t get to go to OTAs somehow with some kind of head start because you were 13-4.
“You go to OTAs like every other team. The team that went 4-13 starts in the same place you do. So, every year you reset. For some teams, that’s a positive. For some teams that can be a challenge. But I look forward to the group here resetting in a couple of weeks getting together and getting to work, just building it one day at a time.”
Cousins, whose in-laws live in Johns Creek, was in the Georgia Dome for the Falcons’ last home games in that facility, playoff games against the Seahawks and Packers on their way to Super Bowl 51.
“(We’re) certainly trying to get back to hosting home playoff games and winning home playoff games, just like they did that year at the end of 2016,” Cousins said. “When I was able to watch it happen and see what the Georgia Dome felt like and the energy that was there.
“Absolutely, want to get back to that.”
The Falcons returned to the playoffs in 2017 after their historic loss in the Super Bowl. But they barely have been over .500 since.
“I think it’s everything from getting in the training room and getting around the trainers,” Cousins said. “Rehabbing the Achilles, seeing the other guys who are in there, getting their body worked on.
“Building those relationships with them in there to meeting with coaches, going over the system. Asking questions about fundamentals and tape watching.”
Cousins said he wants to watch tape of every catch that London has made in the NFL and during his final season at USC.
“I want to watch Kyle Pitts the same way,” Cousins said. “I want to watch Bijan (Robinson) the same way. I want to study these guys. Then I want to do it with them.”
Cousins hopes to ascertain the strengths and weakness of his new offensive weapons.
“I want to put the work in, put the hours in with these guys,” Cousins said. “Be intentional. (I) believe that if we do that, we’re going to like where we are as we move forward.”
Someone has a major coordination job of several offseason schedules. Under Matt Ryan, the Falcons got together a few times for “players-only” offseason minicamps.
“That doesn’t just happen,” Cousins said. ‘We’ve got to plan these meetings. Watch this film. Spend time in this building. Put in the work to where we get to September, we can confidently, say (while) we haven’t been together for years, But the goal is we can play like we have. That’s what we’re trying to work towards. It’s going to take some work.”
Cousins said the first person he heard from associated with the Falcons was Pitts. There’s no rule against player-to-player recruiting calls.
“I was walking through Disney World,” Cousins said. “I think I was in Epcot in line for Guardians of the Galaxy.”
He received a text from an unknown number.
“What’s up, Kirko? This is Kyle Pitts. How are you?” Cousins said. “So, ‘I’m doing good Kyle.’ I think I knew where the text was going, but he didn’t say yet. So, he said, we’re ready for you to take us to the promised land.”
They met at the Pro Bowl in Las Vegas after the 2021 season.
Cousins has reached out to everyone since Wednesday.
“I’ve already been calling teammates and getting to know coaches,” Cousins said. “Trying to catch up on lost time. That is really where the work begins. Because that’s the one thing we don’t have, continuity. That’s where we’ve got to get. That’ll be what the next several weeks, several months are for. Can’t wait to start attacking that.”
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