Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons have agreed to modify the final two years of the veteran quarterback’s contract, according to Field Yates of ESPN. This means the Falcons will decide on his future by March 13, the third day of the 2026 NFL league year.
Yates said that part of the restructure includes a guarantee of $67.9 million for the 2027 season that vests on March 13. The restructure also included reducing his 2026 base salary from a non-guaranteed $35 million to just $2.1 million. This doesn’t impact any guaranteed money already owed to Kirk Cousins.
It’s possible that the Cousins and Atlanta could agree to another restructure to his contract, but Yates believes the Falcons are moving on from him before March 13 via a post-June 1 release. If that happens, the dead money on Cousins’ contract would be split over the 2026 and 2027 league years, which would create salary cap flexibility on June 2. And with Cousins agreeing to reduce his base salary for next season, the Falcons will have immediate cap flexibility.
More on Kirk Cousins and Falcons leadership changes
The Falcons signed Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract in 2024. For the 2025 season, Cousins played in 10 games with eight starts and threw 10 touchdown passes and five interceptions while helping the Falcons win five of the eight games when he was the starter. Cousins took over for Michael Penix Jr., who suffered an ACL injury halfway through the year.
The Falcons made this move as they are going through some major leadership changes. The team fired head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot on Sunday. And on Monday, Falcons owner Arthur Blank announced that Rich McKay is no longer the CEO of the Falcons, and there will be a president of football operations, which is expected to be former Falcons QB and 2016 NFL MVP Matt Ryan.
The Falcons finished the 2025 season with an 8-9 record, and it’s the team’s eighth consecutive losing season. The last time Atlanta reached the playoffs was in 2017, when the team beat the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round and lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round.