Agent: Kirk Cousins agrees to 4-year deal with Atlanta Falcons
Kirk Cousins has played his final down with the Minnesota Vikings. According to his agent Mike McCartney, the 35-year-old quarterback has signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons.
Excited for @KirkCousins8 agreeing to a 4 year deal with the @AtlantaFalcons
— Mike McCartney (@MikeMcCartney7) March 11, 2024
Cousins and the Falcons were allowed to begin contract talks at 11 a.m. CT Monday when the NFL's legal tampering period opened. The deal with the Falcons cannot be made official until the 2024 league year begins at 3 p.m. CT on Wednesday.
According to The Athletic's Dianna Russini, Cousins' new deal will pay him a whopping $180 million ($45m per season) over the four years, including $90 million gully guaranteed over the next two seasons. He also received a $50 million signing bonus.
Here’s Cousins new deal with Atlanta:
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) March 11, 2024
4Y/$180M ($45M APY)
2024/2025 FG ($90M)
2026 Injury Guarantee that Converts ($10M)
$50M to sign
Cousins leaves for Atlanta, where he and his wife Julie have family, after spending the past six seasons with the Vikings. Cousins ranks third among quarterbacks in Minnesota franchise history with 88 games played, third in passing yards (23,265), first in yards per game (264.4), and second in passing touchdowns (171).
Cousins was embarking upon a career year in 2023 before he ruptured his Achilles on Oct. 29 at Lambeau Field. In just eight games he had already thrown for 2,331 yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Minnesota went 8-7-1 in the first year with Cousins at quarterback in 2018. Then from 2019 to 2022 he guided them to 10, 7, 8 and 13 wins, respectively. But playoff success was hard to find. Minnesota reached the postseason in just two of his six seasons and they went 1-2 in playoff games, including a disappointing loss to the Giants in the first round after winning 13 games in 2022.
Cousins made $185 million in six seasons with the Vikings. His first contract in 2018 was for three years and $84 million fully guaranteed. He signed a two-year extension worth $66 million (fully guaranteed) in 2020 and in 2022 he added a one-year extension worth $35 million.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.