The Falcons made a strong commitment to Kirk Cousins as their franchise quarterback this past spring.
Atlanta had a busy offseason after missing the playoffs for the sixth year in a row with another mediocre 7-10 finish. It fired head coach Arthur Smith and traded quarterback Desmond Ridder in an attempt to breathe new life into the organization.
One of the Falcons’ first orders of business was signing a new signal caller, and Cousins was the best veteran quarterback available to fit Atlanta’s hopeful win-now timeline.
How much did Cousins make on the deal? The Sporting News takes a closer look below.
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Kirk Cousins contract details
Cousins signed a monster four-year, $ 180 million deal with the Falcons in March 2024.
The deal included $ 100 million guaranteed and a $ 50 million signing bonus. Cousins also has a potential out in his contract before the 2026 season, per Spotrac.
You can find the full figures of his deal below.
| Year | Age | Base Salary |
| 2024 | 36 | $ 12.5 million |
| 2025 | 37 | $ 27.5 million |
| 2026 | 38 | $ 35 million |
| 2027 | 39 | $ 35 million |
| 2028 | 40 | UFA |
The contract’s length, value and guarantees came as somewhat of a surprise considering Cousins is 36 years old and coming off a season-ending Achilles injury. He still didn’t look completely healthy in his first game with the Falcons, only throwing for 155 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in a loss to the Steelers.
The deal makes Cousins the 14th highest-paid quarterback in the NFL in terms of contract value. His $ 45 million-per-year average is the same as Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes, good for 12th most in the league.
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Kirk Cousins career stats
Cousins’ contract came with some scrutiny because for as solid as he has been in the regular season, that success has not translated to the playoffs.
In 12 career seasons going into this year, Cousins has only started in four playoff games and owns a 1-3 record. $ 180 million is a lot of money for a player who has never made it past the Divisional Round.
However, believe it or not, no quarterback has accrued more passing yards than Cousins (36,596) since he became a full-time starter in 2015. Russell Wilson (262) is the only active quarterback with more passing touchdowns than Cousins (253) in that span.
You can find Cousins’ career stat below.
| Year | Team | GP | Record | Cmp% | Pass Yds | Pass TDs | 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 |
