![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2248109511-e1775184126447.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Former Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins.<\/p>\n
After two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons<\/a>, Kirk Cousins<\/a> was released by the team earlier in March, becoming a free agent once again.<\/p>\n While it may have taken a little longer for Cousins to land with a new team, he ended up signing with the Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> on April 2.<\/p>\n Cousins once again found his way into another lucrative deal, considering he\u2019ll be 38 years old at the start of the season and coming off a subpar two-year stretch in Atlanta.<\/p>\n Cousins agreed to what is essentially a one-year, $11.3 million deal with the Raiders, according to Spotrac<\/a>. He\u2019ll be owed a guaranteed $1.3 million in 2026, along with a $10 million roster bonus in 2027 that carries no offset. The Falcons will still be on the hook for $8.7 million of his 2026 salary.<\/p>\n Reviewing how the deal is structured, NFL Network\u2019s Ian Rapoport<\/a> says it could say a lot about Cousins\u2019 role in 2026.<\/p>\n More Falcons On Heavy: Kirk Cousins\u2019 Raiders Deal Uncovers Contract Loophole, Falcons Left Paying<\/a><\/p>\n Contract Structure Points to Starting Role for Kirk Cousins<\/p>\n Well before Cousins was signed, the Raiders were expected to draft Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick. That would seemingly put Cousins in a similar situation to what he experienced in Atlanta with Michael Penix<\/a> Jr.<\/p>\n Rapoport believes this time could be different.<\/p>\n \u201cMost importantly, the money seems to indicate Kirk Cousins could and maybe should end up being the starting quarterback to begin the 2026 season, even with the Raiders likely selecting Fernando Mendoza,\u201d Rapoport said.<\/p>\n That aligns with what new Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak has hinted at if Mendoza is indeed the pick.<\/p>\n \u201cIdeally you don\u2019t want him to start from Day 1. You\u2019d love for him to be able to learn from somebody,\u201d Kubiak said, per The Athletic\u2019s Josh Kendall<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even Cousins himself told This Is Football\u2019s Kevin Clark<\/a> that he believes teams should be more patient with young quarterbacks.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a time when Aaron Rodgers<\/a> got drafted and sat for three years. Carson Palmer got drafted and sat for a year,\u201d Cousins said. \u201cBut there are teams that have said that was the plan and then Week 4, 5, 6 the guy is playing.\u201d<\/p>\n For Cousins, this is likely his last real opportunity to secure a starting job in the NFL<\/a>. His options were already limited after his release from Atlanta, and now he\u2019ll have to make the most of his situation in Las Vegas \u2014 all while preparing for the future with Mendoza potentially waiting behind him, similar to Penix.<\/p>\n Kirk Cousins Enters Raiders Situation on His Own Terms<\/p>\n This situation with the Raiders is different from what Cousins experienced in Atlanta.<\/p>\n As ESPN\u2019s Mike Greenberg \u2014 and Adam Schefter previously \u2014 pointed out while on The Pat McAfee Show<\/a>, Cousins was blindsided by the Falcons\u2019 decision to draft Penix. That won\u2019t be the case this time around.<\/p>\n \u201cKirk Cousins did not choose to go to Atlanta with Michael Penix there,\u201d Greenberg said. \u201cKirk Cousins went to Atlanta believing he was going to be the starting quarterback, no questions asked. Then they blindside him by taking Penix and then he ends up in a role where he\u2019s part starter, part mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n Greenberg added that this time, Cousins is fully aware of the situation.<\/p>\n He is choosing it.<\/p>\n With Mendoza expected to be the future of the franchise, Cousins enters this opportunity knowing exactly what\u2019s ahead \u2014 a chance to start now, while helping bridge the gap to what comes next.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tShane Shoemaker<\/a> Shane Shoemaker is a sports journalist covering college football and the NFL for Heavy.com. His work has also appeared in The Sporting News, Athlon Sports, USA TODAY, and ClutchPoints, along with high school sports coverage for the Marion Tribune. More about Shane Shoemaker<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Falcons\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Former Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins. After two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, Kirk Cousins was released…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":850693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2074],"tags":[223,254,2554,224,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-850692","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-falcons","10":"tag-atlantafalcons","11":"tag-falcons","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=850692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/850693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=850692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=850692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=850692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}