The Falcons made a firm commitment to sign Kirk Cousins as their franchise quarterback last spring.
Atlanta had a busy offseason after missing the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year and once again finishing a mediocre 7-10 record. In an effort to breathe new life into the organization, they fired head coach Arthur Smith and traded quarterback Desmond Ridder.
One of the Falcons’ first orders of business was to sign a new signal caller, and Cousins was the best available experienced quarterback who fit Atlanta’s hoped-for-immediate-winning schedule.
How much did Cousins make in the deal? The Sporting News takes a closer look below.
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Kirk Cousins contract details
Cousins signed a massive four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons in March 2024.
The deal included $100 million guaranteed and a $50 million signing bonus. Cousins also has the option to opt out before the 2026 season, according to Spotrac.
The full numbers on his deal can be found below.
| Year | Old | Basic salary |
| 2024 | 36 | 12.5 million US dollars |
| 2025 | 37 | 27.5 million US dollars |
| 2026 | 38 | 35 million US dollars |
| 2027 | 39 | 35 million US dollars |
| 2028 | 40 | UFA |
The contract length, value and guarantees came as a bit of a surprise considering Cousins is 36 years old and is recovering from a season-ending Achilles injury. He didn’t look fully healthy in his first game with the Falcons, throwing for just 155 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in a loss to the Steelers.
With this deal, Cousins becomes the NFL’s 14th highest-paid quarterback in terms of contract value. His average annual income of $45 million matches that of Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes, ranking him 12th in the league.
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Kirk Cousins career statistics
Cousins’ contract came under scrutiny because, despite his solid performance in the regular season, his success did not translate to the playoffs.
In the 12 seasons of his career before this year, Cousins has only started four playoff games and his record is 1-3. $180 million is a lot of money for a player who has never made it past the divisional round.
But believe it or not, since Cousins joined the starting lineup in 2015, no quarterback has had more passing yards than him (36,596). Russell Wilson (262) is the only active quarterback with more passing touchdowns than Cousins (253) during that time period.
Below are Cousins’ career statistics.
| Year | team | General medicine | Record | % | Pass Yards | Touchdowns happen | INTs |
| 2012 | WAS | 3 | 1:0 | 68.8 | 466 | 4 | 3 |
| 2013 | WAS | 5 | 0-3 | 52.3 | 854 | 4 | 7 |
| 2014 | WAS | 6 | 1-4 | 61.8 | 1,710 | 10 | 9 |
| 2015 | WAS | 16 | 9-7 | 69.8 | 4,166 | 29 | 11 |
| 2016 | WAS | 16 | 8-7-1 | 67.0 | 4,917 | 25 | 12 |
| 2017 | WAS | 16 | 7-9 | 64.3 | 4,093 | 27 | 13 |
| 2018 | MIN | 16 | 8-7-1 | 70.1 | 4,298 | 30 | 10 |
| 2019 | MIN | 15 | 10-5 | 69.1 | 3,603 | 26 | 6 |
| 2020 | MIN | 16 | 7-9 | 67.6 | 4,265 | 35 | 13 |
| 2021 | MIN | 16 | 8-8 | 66.3 | 4,221 | 33 | 7 |
| 2022 | MIN | 17 | 13-4 | 65.9 | 4,547 | 29 | 14 |
| 2023 | MIN | 8 | 4-4 | 69.5 | 2,331 | 18 | 5 |
| 2024 | ATL | 1 | 0-1 | 61.5 | 155 | 1 | 2 |
| career | 151 | 76-68-2 | 66.9 | 39,626 | 271 | 112 |
