Kirk Cousins Finds New Team, Atlanta Falcons Get Salary Cap Relief

After two seasons, former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins has landed with a new team. According to a report from the quarterback's agent, Mike McNartney, he will be signing with the Las Vegas Raiders.

The former Falcons quarterback received interest from several different teams, including the Rams, Cardinals, and Packers. Cousins will now be a veteran presence for the Raiders' future quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, who is widely expected to be the first-overall pick in this month's draft.

More importantly for the Falcons, they will get up to a $10 million in offsets from his agreement with the Raiders. In other words, Cousins’ new contract could ensure that Michael Penix Jr. ($6.24 million) and Tua Tagovailoa ($1.3 million) will effectively be fully paid for, with room for another $2.46 million deal to throw in there.

The Falcons will still have a $35 million dead cap hit from releasing Cousins, but they spread it across 2026 ($22.5 million) and 2027 ($12.5 million) with a post-June 1 designation.

This report officially ends what had been a tumultuous two years after Atlanta signed Cousins in 2024 to steady their quarterback carousel.

At first, it looked like a perfect little marriage, but the Falcons stunned the veteran with their selection of Penix in the ensuing draft. They all moved on, but the trust between the parties was shattered, and that mistrust between the two reared its head that season.

After an outstanding 6-3 start to the 2024 season, Cousins suffered shoulder and elbow injuries in a Week 10 loss to the Saints. Instead of coming forward with what happened, he hid them and referred to his initial presence on the injury report as a “clerical error.” What could not be covered up was the clear dropoff in his performance. He threw one touchdown and nine interceptions over five games, and the Falcons went 1-4.

Cousins was benched, and the Penix era began.

From there, the divorce was inevitable, but it took a bit longer than most expected. Instead of releasing Cousins in 2025 (as he wanted), he served as the backup quarterback behind the player drafted to replace him the year before.

After an injury to Penix in Week 11, he started the final seven games of the season. But just like the first two months in 2024, the last two of 2025 were not enough to save the marriage.

After the season finished up, the two parties re-worked his deal and made a release a certainty. Cunningham later confirmed that decision in February. Now the quarterback has landed on his new team, officially solidifying the end of what has been a disappointing two-year experiment.

As for the Falcons, Penix ranks 24th in EPA per dropback (0.03) and has completed just 59.6% of his passes in two seasons. He has plenty still to prove, but he will have a new competitor to worry about with the addition of Tagovailoa this offseason. The two are expected to duke it out this offseason whenever he returns to full health.

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