Inside Kirk Cousins’ new deal with Raiders after $100 million Falcons disaster — and where QB ranks with all-time earnings

Kirk Cousins will be seeing plenty of green this season.

The new Raiders quarterback will make $20 million fully guaranteed for Las Vegas this year after agreeing to a pact with the franchise that features a club option for two years at $80 million, according to reports, which noted the deal could reach $172 million over five years.

The $20 million Cousins will earn is double the $10 million guarantee he had remaining on his deal with the Falcons, who pulled the plug on their $180 million union in March after two uninspiring seasons.

Kirk Cousins joined the Raiders in April 2026. AP

The Raiders will pay the minimum base salary of $1.3 million while the Falcons — who inked Cousins to a four-year deal worth $100 million guaranteed in 2024 — will pay their former QB $8.7 million in 2026, as broken down by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

The Las Vegas franchise will also pay Cousins a $10 million roster bonus that’s fully guaranteed on the third day of the new league year in 2027.

Cousins’ marriage with the Raiders marks the 11th straight season his contract will be fully guaranteed.

Through 2026, Cousins ranks in the top five of NFL career earnings, according to Spotrac, which placed his earnings at $331.1 million.

The quarterback — who also played for Washington and Minnesota — is in elite company with Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford ($448.3 million), Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott ($337.8 million) and future Hall of Famer Tom Brady ($332.9 million), a minority owner of Cousins’ new team.

Kirk Cousins has played for Minnesota, Washington and Atlanta in his NFL career. Getty Images

The Raiders have their eyes on the future with the No. 1 overall pick in this month’s draft, with the team largely expected to select Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

If Mendoza joins Cousins, it’s likely the 37-year-old veteran will start, as first-year coach Klint Kubiak has been vocal about not wanting to throw a young signal caller into the lions’ den immediately.

“Ideally, you don’t want him to start day one. You’d love him to be able to learn behind somebody. That’s in a perfect world,” Kubiak said Tuesday, according to ESPN. “It doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes they have to play from day one, and it’s our job as a coach to get them ready to go. I think it does help the player, though, if they can sit behind a mature adult and watch how they run the show.”

That plan was enacted in Cousins’ previous stop, when the Falcons stunningly drafted Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall after signing Cousins in free agency months prior.

The Falcons benched Cousins after a 7-7 start, but thrust him back into the action in 2025 when Penix went down with a torn ACL.

Cousins tossed 1,721 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions across 10 games last season.