It appeared like an simply swap for Kirk Cousins and Kyle Pitts. However little did the brand new Atlanta Falcons teammates know, altering jersey numbers would find yourself being a really pricey choice.
Cousins has worn No. 8 because the 2014 NFL season with Washington. Pitts has been No. 8 since coming into the league in 2021. So after Cousins selected to depart the Minnesota Vikings, the place he’d worn No. 8 since 2018, and be a part of the Falcons, there was a query — posed by Pitts on X — about who would put on the quantity going ahead in Atlanta.
It occurs usually in sports activities the place a participant will lower a test or reward a teammate one thing particular — like a Porsche, as an example — to be able to purchase a jersey quantity. Throughout his introductory press convention, Cousins mentioned he reached out to Pitts and supplied up cash or a charitable donation in change for No. 8. Cousins mentioned Pitts jokingly requested for extra targets subsequent season in change.
In actuality, as Cousins informed The Large Podcast with Shaquille O’Neal this week, Pitts was already seeking to change his quantity for the 2024 season. It simply occurred to work out that Cousins signed and has worn No. 8 up to now. However once they sought to make the change official, the NFL stepped in and informed them that the swap was attainable, but it surely was going to value them for a really particular cause.
“He wished to modify numbers anyhow, so it was like an ideal match. He was like, I wish to swap numbers, you need No. 8, that is excellent,” Cousins mentioned. “I used to be like, nice. After which the league spoke into it. It was like, ‘Effectively, Kyle Pitts has lots of jerseys which might be No. 8 with Pitts on the again. You would need to purchase each single one.’ … Each of us must write the test. … It was a number of hundred thousand [dollars]. So I used to be like, I’m good with 18. And Kyle was like, I’m good with 8. So we’re going with 8 and 18.”
An analogous scenario occurred in baseball earlier this yr. When Carlos Santana signed with the Minnesota Twins in February, pitcher Joe Ryan, who has worn No. 41 since 2022, was prepared to surrender the quantity to his new teammate. The one downside was, in accordance the Collective Bargaining Settlement, quantity change requests should be made by July 31 of the earlier season. If Santana actually wished No. 41 for the 2024 season, it was going to value him $225,000 to purchase out what was in MLB Licensing’s stock for each gamers.
No test was lower and Santana has been carrying No. 30 for the Twins this season.
Cousins will take over below middle carrying No. 18, which had been beforehand worn by broad receivers Mack Hollins and Calvin Ridley.
