Veteran QB Kirk Cousins Remains In Atlanta For Now With Dramatically Slimmed-Down Contract

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by Matthew MendivesJanuary 14, 2026, 1:50 am >

The Atlanta Falcons may be looking for a new head coach and general manager, but they plan to keep a familiar face in the quarterback room.

The Falcons and Kirk Cousins have agreed to restructure the final two years of his contract. He was signed to a four-year, $180 million contract in the 2024 offseason. His base salary in 2026 has been drastically reduced to $2.1 million. This won’t affect his signing and roster bonus. In 2027, his base salary balloons to $67.9 million. However, if he’s released after the 2026 season, they will only owe him $12.5 million. If they released him this offseason, he’ll be owed $35 million.

The 2024 season got off to a good start for Cousins. He threw 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions and led the Falcons to a 5-3 record. In the next six games, he threw four touchdowns and nine interceptions and had a 2-4 record. He was benched for rookie QB Michael Penix Jr.

Cousins spent most of the first half of 2025 on the bench. However, he became the starter in Week 11 after Penix Jr. partially tore his ACL. Cousins led the Falcons to a 5-3 record and had 10 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. His best game was a 29-28 victory against the Buccaneers, where he threw 3 touchdowns. He threw two interceptions and no touchdowns against the Seahawks, but very few QBs fared well against that defense.

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The Falcons won five of their eight games with Cousins at the QB spot. Outside of a three-touchdown game against the Patriots, Penix Jr. looked extremely underwhelming. The second half of the season showed the Falcons have the pieces to compete. Will they start the veteran Cousins to try and make the playoffs for the first time since 2017?