Local Insiders Suggest PFT’s Mike Florio is Being Played by Kirk Cousins and His Agent

On Monday, a report dropped at ProFootballTalk.com from Mr. PFT himself, Mike Florio, that shook up the NFL offseason world a little bit, much like he is apt to do.

Florio had a “very credible indications” that Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins was already low-key planning his family’s move to Atlanta, presumably because he was preparing to sign a contract with the Falcons, once free agency hits next week. Of course, Florio picked his words very carefully.

We’re picking up very credible indications that Kirk Cousins is planning a potential move of his family from Minnesota to Atlanta.

We can’t get into the specifics, for now. But we’re getting very credible indications that Cousins is seriously considering moving his family…”

Read more on yesterday’s report at PFT and the possible implications

But Tuesday morning, local scoop master, Darren “Doogie” Wolfson (KSTP, SKOR North) shot Florio’s report down, after talking to one of his own trusted sources. Wolfson opened his appearance on ‘Mackey and Judd’ today on SKOR North, unprompted, with a report that more indirectly (but still rather aggressively) pushed back on what we’ve been hearing recently about Kirk, the Vikings and his ties to the Falcons.

In other words, Doogie shined a much more positive outlook on the situation, from the viewpoint of someone hoping Cousins returns. That it’s still very possible Kirk is wearing purple next season (01:25 mark — transcript below).

“We may know at this time next week — so when I join you guys next Tuesday, March 12 — I think we’ll have a good amount of clarity. But for the next week, there’s enough uncertainty because we know this is a fact: The Vikings have interest in resigning Kirk cousins.

It’s not as simple as, ‘we know that Kirk is going to land elsewhere, probably Atlanta [so we’ve given up], that there is legit interest [on the Vikings’ end]. So it’s fascinating to see, if this can play out, where there is a scenario where Kirk does indeed re-sign with the Vikings.”

Darren Wolfson – Mackey & Judd

Related: Mike Florio Reveals Julie and Kirk Cousins as His Sources; Triples Down on Recent Reporting

Wolfson: Kirk Cousins’ camp planting seeds with Mike Florio

Wolfson then moves to a more direct shunning of yesterday’s PFT report, saying that he checked with his own extremely reliable Kirk Cousins sources, following Florio’s post on Monday, and those sources short it down aggressively, though they did note it’s possible they’ve been in touch with a realtor in Inver Grove Heights, MN that leaving is a real possibility.

“I will say, I did follow up on that Florio report with one person who knows Kirk incredibly well. He shot that down. Now again, that doesn’t mean Kirk his re-signing with the Vikings or not landing in Atlanta. I’m telling you, the end game absolutely can be Kirk landing in Atlanta.

But the exact verbiage that Florio used, like this person shot it down. I think, the extent of Kirk planting seeds on a potential move from Minnesota is, like, a conversation with a realtor… or the family, you know, about potentially putting the Inver Grove Heights house on the market. But I don’t sense there’s been all this inner working, you know, going on down in Atlanta, like it’s a done deal that Cousins is getting ready to uproot his family, that there’s already all this groundwork laid in the Atlanta area.”

Darren Wolfson – Mackey & Judd

Doogie and the rest of the Mackey & Judd Show on SKOR North then turn to mocking this idea that a family as rich as the Cousins would have to pre-plan a possible move to Atlanta weeks before such a life-changing move is anywhere near being finalized.

Related: Kirk Cousins Shows Off His New “Grillz” and Justin Jefferson Approves

They’re right, too. If we assume Kirk’s kids would finish out the school year in MN then there’s no reason a family with $100s of millions of dollars would be calling moving companies or trying to set up house showings in Atlanta already.

Mackey, Judd and Wolfson believe (rather matter-of-factly) that the information PFT is being fed is nothing more than a plant by the Kirk Cousins camp, for posturing purposes with the Vikings. The show raises some very interesting questions regarding how Florio got his hands on whatever information he thought he had yesterday, even if the “indications” were “credible”?

Judd: So let’s go through that, though, because it’s very clear that this was a plant from the Cousins’ side. Because you’re right, a millionaire is not going to say, ‘well we got a lot of work to do to move. I mean, we gotta pack up U-Haul.

Mackey: Gotta get a quote [for movers], right?

Judd: “Yeah, if they rent, you gotta get the security deposit back? ‘Julie, start cleaning now!'”

Mackey: “‘What if they charge us $500 for a deep clean???’

Judd: “So, the plant comes from the Cousins’ side and I think what that was, Doogs, is very clearly one of [Kirk’s] final attempts to tell the Vikings, ‘we’re serious… if you don’t believe us, we’re serious.’ And I do have some spies out there that tell me that conversation [about planting plans to move] might have been had between two people, or at least one person who is very in touch with Kirk, who was probably told, ‘hey, you might wanna make a phone call [to Florio] and tell him we are considering moving’.”

Mackey and Judd Show (SKOR North)

Meanwhile, back at the PFT studios… Mike Florio is doubling — check that — tripling down on his steam and he’s not even hiding where his information is coming from anymore. A once massive Kirk Cousins critic has been flipped and now the two wives are talking…

Also Read:
Mike Florio Reveals Julie and Kirk Cousins as His Sources; Triples Down on Recent Reporting