Kirk Cousins signs four-year deal with Falcons

Kirk Cousins signs four-year deal with Falcons

Kirk Cousins, arguably the most prized free agent quarterback on the market, has signed a four-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons, his agent Mike McCartney disclosed Monday.

Excited for @KirkCousins8 agreeing to a 4 year deal with the @AtlantaFalcons

— Mike McCartney (@MikeMcCartney7) March 11, 2024

In terms of the dollars, the legend of Cousins continues! The 35-year-old will earn $180 million–including $100 million guaranteed and a $50 million signing bonus–over the next four seasons, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero was among the first to report Monday.

The #Falcons are signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract that includes a $50M signing bonus, per sources.

Another monster payday for Cousins, who gets $100 guaranteed — $90M in 2024 and ‘25, plus another $10M in 2026 — and a fresh start in Atlanta at age 35. pic.twitter.com/NkFNMzSjF5

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 11, 2024

Keep in mind, Cousins was coming off a serious Achilles injury which limited him to just eight games last season. He threw for 2,331 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions after back-to-back Pro Bowl appearances with Minnesota.

Someday, I hope a class at the Eli Broad College of Business (at Michigan State, Cousins’ alumni) dedicates an entire week–or month–on Cousins and McCartney, if they haven’t already. By the time his career is done, Cousins–who many consider to be a fringe top-10/15 quarterback–will have gotten at least $330 million in career earnings, per Spotrac. A pair of elite businessmen.

More seriously, Cousins is a considerable upgrade over Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke. It will be interesting to see how he (immediately) bounces back from the most severe injury of his career, but he is still an above-average quarterback who will be more than beneficial for top picks Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts, plus Drake London.

As for Minnesota, they will now be without a sure-fire starting quarterback since 2017. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was never going to bend the knee for Cousins for $180 million over four seasons–nor should he have. But the third-year general manager will now be tasked with, by far, the biggest and most consequential decision of his young career: Finding Cousins’ replacement.

Finding a franchise quarterback is one of the hardest jobs in sports. Adofo-Mensah has already attacked the defensive side of the football in free agency and could have over $100 million in the 2025 free agency. You can see a plan being put in place to build around the quarterback spot–a great plan!–but there are no immediate answers outside of Cousins. If Minnesota wants to get back into contention, it will likely need to be attacked over the next 2-3 seasons.

What do you think of this move? Let us know in the comments!

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This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.

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