Tom Pelissero@TomPelissero
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.
Here’s how it breaks down:
🏈 Falcons pay $8.7M in 2026, with the Raiders paying the $1.3 minimum base salary.
🏈 Raiders pay Cousins a $10M fully guaranteed roster bonus on the third day of the league year next March that is not subject to offsets.
🏈 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.
