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Veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins will reportedly make $20 million fully guaranteed during the 2026 NFL season combined between the amount previously owed by his former team, the Atlanta Falcons, and his new team, the Las Vegas Raiders, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero on Thursday (April 2).
"New Raiders QB Kirk Cousins will now make $20 million fully guaranteed for playing the 2026 season, per sources. That’s double the $10M guarantee Cousins had left on his Falcons contract, and puts him in line to potentially be the Week 1 starter in Las Vegas," Pelissero wrote on his X account.
Cousins, 37, will reportedly be paid $8.7 million in 2026, with the Raiders paying the remaining $1.3 minimum base salary of the $10 million he was initially owed prior to being released last month. Las Vegas will also pay Cousins a $10 million fully guaranteed roster bonus on the third day of the league year next March that is not subject to offset, according to Pelissero.
"Raiders hold a two-year, $80M option for 2027-28, which is unlikely (though not impossible) to be picked up. The deal also includes two void years in 2029-30 for cap purposes. On paper, it’s a three-year, $81.3M deal (or five for $172M with the void years). In reality, it’s one-year, $20 million for Kirk Cousins, who now will have played under fully guaranteed contracts for 11 consecutive seasons," Pelissero wrote. "Final tab for the Kirk Cousins era in Atlanta: Two years, $98.7 million. The Raiders now get their potential starter for 2026 at $11.3 million."
Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons in March 2024, which included $100 million guaranteed, just one month before the franchise selected former Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with its first-round pick. Cousins went 7-7 during his first season in Atlanta before being benched for Penix, who started the 2025 season and went 3-6 prior to a season-ending ACL injury. Cousins started in the Falcons' final eight games, going 5-3, and throwing for 1,721 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions on 166 of 269 passing.