Kirk Cousins’ contract is why Falcons are stuck with QB for another year

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins was signed to be the starter in 2024 and potentially beyond, but then the team drafted Michael Penix, Jr. in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Now with Cousins looking shaky, it’s becoming more likely the veteran won’t be the starter in 2025.

The play of Kirk Cousins has put his contract under the microscope. He has an interception in four straight games including a four-interception outing against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13. He leads the NFL in picks in 2024.

Wins aren’t a QB stat, but the Falcons are 0-3 over the last month and went from a strong lead in the NFC South to second place in the division and completely out of the playoffs at 6-7.

This past offseason, Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million contract but only half of that is guaranteed. In actuality, that makes it a two-year, $90 million contract with $45-million team options for Year 3 and Year 4. With his $27.5 million 2025 salary fully guaranteed, it’s unlikely the Falcons will straight up release him, but they could trade him. If they trade him, they would have paid him $62.5 million for one season at quarterback.

Cousins’ 2025 salary is fully guaranteed, so if they cut Cousins, they will still owe him $27.5 million in cash.

The Falcons have paid him $62.5 million but only accounted for $25 million on their 2024 cap. If he’s not on the roster via cut or trade, the remaining $37.5 million would need to be accounted for on the 2025 cap.

If you add the $27.5 million to the $37.5 million, the $65 million dead cap hit would be the second-highest in NFL history behind only Russell Wilson with the Denver Broncos.

To start this conversation, it’s imperative that we mention that Cousins has a full no-trade clause and would need to approve a move to a new team. However, his deal would be pretty affordable for that new team. They would inherit one guaranteed year at $27.5 million on his contract, a very reasonable number for Cousins. If that figure was the average, it would be just the 18th-highest average QB salary in the NFL. Then they could keep him in 2026 for $45 million. (If I am Cousins, part of my negotiations for lifting the no-trade clause would include guaranteeing some or all of the 2026 money, which is an interesting wrinkle.)

For the Falcons, they have paid Cousins $62.5 million but only accounted for $25 million on the salary cap. That leaves $37.5 million that needs to be accounted for. If he’s not on the roster by trade, that would be his cap hit in 2025 for the Falcons. If they trade him after June 1, that would be split between 2024 and 2025.

Like we said before, his 2025 salary is already fully guaranteed so nothing would change on the balance sheet if they kept him or cut him. They could also sit him as the veteran behind Penix and there is little Cousins could do other than create a stink in the media.