Pro Football Talk has long been sought after by NFL fans as a source of potential scoops around the league. But on Monday, some critics questioned the credibility of the platform, which PFT owner and creator Mike Florio pushed back against in a fiery social media post.
Florio reported a scoop on his website on Monday that stated Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins and his family were planning a potential move from Minnesota to Atlanta.
We're picking up very credible indications that Kirk Cousins is planning a potential move of his family from Minnesota to Atlanta. https://t.co/ZSlTq9tnMc
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 5, 2024
This obviously created speculation that Cousins, who is set to become a free agent this offseason, could potentially be on the move to play for the Atlanta Falcons next season.
However, Florio’s report didn’t exactly come from an identifiable source. Here is the transcript of Florio’s report, which stated that PFT received “very credible indications” that Cousins is “seriously considering” moving his family.
“We can’t get into the specifics, for now,” wrote Florio. “But we’re getting very credible indications that Cousins is seriously considering moving his family to Atlanta. Which would mean, obviously, that he’d be signing with the Falcons.
Some NFL fans who saw the report called Florio’s sources into question.
https://twitter.com/MardyFish/status/1764826633289322586
I hope Florio got a tip from like a moving truck company https://t.co/I49Z5e5Ism pic.twitter.com/QK4WXOUABp
— Offseason Chopz (@Pchopz_) March 5, 2024
Hours later, Florio seemingly tweeted out a response to those questioning his sources in a social media post from the Pro Football Talk Twitter/X account.
“To the folks who try and dismiss our reports by saying we have no sources or whatever, you realize we had like 50 guests on our show last week from Indy, right? You realize pretty much everyone in the league reads PFT, right? You realize I’ve been doing this 23 years, right???”
To the folks who try to dismiss our reports by saying we have no sources or whatever, you realize we had like 50 guests on our show last week from Indy, right? You realize pretty much everyone in the league reads PFT, right? You realize I've been doing this 23 years, right???
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 5, 2024
It’s understandable for Florio to feel this way when critics continue to try to discredit his work. This is far from the first time that he and PFT have been called out for the legitimacy of their sources.
And to be fair to Florio, he made it very clear in his article that Cousins and his family have not officially moved yet, instead merely reporting on information that he received of that being a possibility.
Regardless, Florio is very clearly not all that happy that the legitimacy of his sources is being called into question.
[Pro Football Talk on Twitter/X]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.