Kirk Cousins Hints At 1 Expensive Reason He Didn’t Take No. 8 From Kyle Pitts

One of the fun minor storylines about Cousins’ move to Atlanta was whether or not Cousins would ask for his usual jersey number from one of his soon-to-be pass catchers. That reportedly won’t be the case. Cousins, who will wear No. 18, hinted at the very pricey reason why last week.

Kirk Cousins Was Asked About The Jersey Number Talk During His Introductory Presser

The Falcons last week unveiled their shiny new quarterback in an introductory press conference. One of the topics discussed was how pivotal Pitts was in trying to recruit Kirko to Atlanta.

Weeks before the signing, there were reports that Pitts and Cousins had already gone so far as to discuss which of them was wearing No. 8. Pitts initially denied the rumor.

But Cousins hinted at it during his introductory presser. The 4-time Pro Bowler said the number issue went beyond the two players — it was a matter the NFL would have had to be involved in had the number changed hands.

“I do believe it’s bigger than Kyle and I,” Cousins said, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “I think the league will start to speak into things, and we’ll just see how that plays out.”

Kirk Cousins (Or Kyle Pitts) Would Have Had To Foot A Huge Bill To Take No. 8

Florio filled in some of the gaps via his correspondence with chief NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. According to the NFL exec, the league has a rule wherein a player looking to change their jersey prior to an upcoming season would have to “buy out existing inventory” of jerseys that had the old number.

“Without getting into any specific player(s), there is a longstanding NFL policy where a player can change his jersey but would have to buy out existing inventory if he wanted to make the switch prior to the upcoming season,” Brian McCarthy said via PFT.

McCarthy added that players could make a change for the following season, but they would have to sport the old number for at least the upcoming year.

Based on the massive figures reported on his next contract, Cousins will make a decent chunk of change from the Falcons. But Kirko Chainz doesn’t appear to want to splurge on something as trivial as a number.