ORLANDO, Fla. — Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank says his organization didn’t commit manipulation during the search for new quarterback Kirk Cousins as the NFL investigates the matter.
“It’s clear that we don’t believe we’ve altered the agreement and we’ve shared all of the data with the league,” Blank said at the NFL’s annual meeting on Monday. “And they’re going to take a look at the procedure and the facts and they’ll be in the procedure to do it and whatever the end result is, we’ll take care of it. “
The Falcons officially signed Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract on the first day of official agency, two days after his agent, Mike McCartney, announced on social media on March 11 that Cousins and Atlanta had agreed to terms.
At Cousins’ inaugural news conference, he said he spoke with the team’s head coach before four p. m. March 13, when the new year of the championship was supposed to begin. Teams can speak with agents in the legal negotiation window starting at noon ET on March 11. until the beginning of the new year, but I can’t speak directly to players unless the player doesn’t have an agent and it’s their own agent.
“When you get here and you look around and you think, boy, there’s other wonderful people here,” Cousins said on March 13. “And it’s not just about the football team. I mean, I look at the staff, in meetings, calling yesterday, calling our head athletic trainer and talking to our PR manager, I think we’ve been given other smart people here.
“And it’s exciting to be a part of it. “
A day after Cousins’ press conference, a league source told ESPN that the NFL is involved in the matter.
Atlanta recruited Cousins to update the mix of Taylor Heinicke and Desmond Ridder, who has since been traded to Arizona, as the starting quarterback. Cousins completed 66. 9 percent of his passes for 39,471 yards, 270 touchdowns and 110 interceptions for Minnesota and Washington after being decided. in the fourth round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft through the now-Commanders.
The quarterback had been Atlanta’s priority in the offseason and Cousins has found a solution to his position, which the club has been looking for since Matt Ryan’s move to Indianapolis in March 2022. Atlanta hasn’t finished a season above Array500 or made the playoffs since 2017.
“Obviously, the others were convinced of our football. I think our enthusiasts would definitely agree with that,” Blank said Monday. “He’s a very high-quality quarterback, he’s played at a higher level for 12 years in the league and I feel very fortunate to have him as a quarterback and I’m looking forward to seeing the effects with him.
“It has all the intangibles, not just the tangibles, but the intangibles. (. . . ) He’s at home, he’s fit to go to work, he’s running around and watching it happen. “