Veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins recently revealed the reason why he won’t wear his No. 8 jersey with the Atlanta Falcons. According to Cousins, that would cost him “several hundred thousand dollars,” so he instead opted for No. 18.
Cousins has been wearing the No. 8 jersey from 2014, his third year in the NFL, all the way to his 2023 campaign with the Minnesota Vikings. When he signed with the Atlanta Falcons this offseason, the No. 8 was already taken by tight end Kyle Pitts.
During his recent appearance on Shaquille O’Neal’s The Big Podcast, Cousins discussed the rumor that Pitts was ready to give up the No. 8 in exchange for getting more targets. As it turns out, Pitts didn’t have any demands because he was already looking to switch jersey numbers. But, it didn’t happen because the NFL stepped in.
“It was like, ‘Well, 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 [dollars]. 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 shared.
