Kirk Cousins is beginning a new chapter of his career.Last month, the four time Pro Bowler signed a mosntrous four-year,$180-million deal with the Atlanta Falcons. Cousins is expected to solvethe quarterback woes that had been haunting the team ever sinceMatt Ryan’s departure two years ago.

But more than just a new team and coaching staff, Cousins is alsochanging something else: his jersey number. Having worn No. 8 for hisentire career, he will instead don 18. And the reason for that hassomething to do with tight end Kyle Pitts, as he relayed to ShaquilleO’Nean and Adam Lefkoe on The Big Podcast

“So he wanted to switch numbers anyways. It was like a perfect fit…And then the league spoke into it. They’re like, ‘Well, Kyle Pitts has alot of jerseys that are number 8 with ‘Pitts’ on the back. You wouldhave to buy every single one.’ Both of us would have to just write thecheck.

“And I was like, ‘Well, what is it?’ It was a big number. And I waslike, ‘I don’t want to write that check. I’m good.’ It was several100,000$. So I was like, ‘I’m good with 18 and Kyle’s like I’m goodwith 8.’ So we’re going with 8 and 18.”

Kirk Cousins expounds on desire to retirewith Atlanta Falcons

When Kirk Cousins was introduced as an Atlanta Falcon for the firsttime Iast month, he was blunt about why he chose to wear the blackand red jersey:

“It felt like this was a place where, if I play at the level I expect toplay, that I can retire a Falcon. That was something that really excitedme and that’s certainly the goal.”

In that same podcast appearance, he went deeper and further, makingit clear that it would be a Super Bowl or bust for him and his offensivecore:

“Most of my story (the fans) would likely know, but they need toknow that I’m going to be committed to doing everything I can to helpus win a world championship… It’s a 365, really, like what do we haveto do to win a world championship? That’s really my plan.”

Cousins also invoked his two sons Cooper and Turner in his argument,noting that they were very young during his days at Washington andMinnesota.For more context, the former was born in September 2017, in the earlydays of what would turn out to be his final season in Landover,Maryland. The latter, meanwhile, was born in March 2019, just after hisfirst season in Minneapolis ended.