Falcons restructure QB Kirk Cousins' deal, set stage for offseason decision, per report

Quarterback Kirk Cousins faces a crossroads in his Atlanta Falcons career, and with two years remaining on his contract, the parties agreed to restructure their agreement. According to ESPN, the Falcons reduced Cousins' 2026 salary from $35 million to $2.1 million and offset that reduction with the addition of a vesting guarantee for the 2027 season.

A guaranteed $67.9 million salary for 2027 will vest on March 13, setting the stage for the Falcons to make a decision on Cousins' future before that date.

If the Falcons release Cousins prior to March 13, the dead money on his contract would be split over 2026 and 2027. The 2026 salary reduction also significantly dropped Cousins' cap hit for the coming year. But because neither the Falcons nor a potential trade suitor would likely want to face a $67.9 million burden in 2027, Cousins' most logical paths forward would be a release or the signing of another amended contract.

Cousins is no stranger to uncertainty at this point in his career and is essentially locked into a waiting game as the Falcons weigh their options over the next three months.

"This pro sports life is full of unknowns," Cousins said Tuesday on "Up & Adams." "It has been for a long time for all of us. I think we find ourselves there again as we finish this season and look forward. You just don't know. You don't know where it's headed. I guess in some ways, now that it's been 14 years, and even when you count the college years, too, it becomes almost normal, the unknown. You just kind of learn to hold things loosely and to move forward with an open mind and open to anything that can happen and be ready to try to hit curveballs."

Cousins' initial signing with the Falcons raised eyebrows, as the four-year, $180 million contract for an aging quarterback coming off a torn Achilles appeared as a risky investment. That Atlanta selected Michael Penix Jr. in the first round of the ensuing NFL Draft only made its quarterback situation murkier.

The Falcons now enter 2026 in search of a new coach and general manager after the firings of Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot, and their replacements will have a decision to make about the future of the position.

"I want to play, you know?" Cousins said. "I don't know if you want to call it a starter, or whatever you want to call it. But, yeah, the chance to get out there on the field and play and compete in the league is what I think we all want. We'll kind of see where everything is when the dust settles."