Raiders Paying Kirk Cousins $11.3M On Top Of What Falcons Already Owed Him For 2026

Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, new Raiders QB Kirk Cousins will make $20 million fully guaranteed for playing in 2026, double the $10 million guarantee he had remainig on his Falcons’ contract.

Pelissero broke down Cousins’ deal, noting the Falcons will pay him $8.7 million in 2026, with the Raiders paying the minimum $1.3 million base salary.

The Raiders will also pay Cousins a $10 million fully guaranteed roster bonus on the third day of the league year next year, which is not subject to offsets, meaning a new deal for Cousins will be all new potential earnings and the Raiders will not get salary cap credit.

Pelissero also mentions the Raiders will hold a two-year, $80 million option for 2027-2028, which he believes is unlikely to be picked up. There are also two void years in 2029-2030 for salary cap purposes, per Pelissero. 

According to Pelissero, the deal is a three-year, $81.3 million contract on paper without the void years, but in reality is more like a one-year, $20 million deal. 

Finally, Pelissero thinks the deal’s structure means he’s likely to be a free agent this time next year, but with no offsets in his contract. 

Cousins, 37, is a former fourth-round pick of Washington back in 2012. He played out the final year of his rookie contract before being franchised in back-to-back seasons. 

Cousins later departed in free agency for a three-year, $84 million contract with the Vikings. He was entering the final year of his contract in 2020 when he agreed to a two-year, $66 million contract extension. In 2021, he agreed to a new one-year, $35 million contract extension that was also fully guaranteed.

He was in the final year of that deal in 2023 and was testing the market as an unrestricted free agent when signing with the Falcons this offseason. He inked a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million in guaranteed money. 

In 2025, Cousins appeared in 10 games for the Falcons, starting eight, and completed 61.7 percent of his passes for 1,721 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions.