Kirk Cousins was supposed to be the Atlanta Falcons‘ savior. But nope, instead of leading his team to glory, the QB led the league in interceptions—16 of them, to be exact. That’s not the kind of stat line you want from your supposed franchise QB, right? No surprise, the team ended up benching him in the final leg of the season. After the Falcons didn’t qualify for the playoffs, the team named rookie Michael Penix Jr. as their QB1.
Stick with us, because that’s where things got interesting. After a poor 7-7 record with the Falcons, the rumors linked Cousins for a trade or release in 2025. That meant only one thing: the Falcons are no longer interested in Cousins and they’re looking to go ahead with Penix in the next season. And guess what? Amidst all this chaos, the 36-year-old QB asked the Falcons’ owner Arthur Blank to release him.
Did Blank fulfill his demand? Absolutely not. On Wednesday, the NFL Spotlight host, Ari Meirov discussed Cousins’ contract and situation where he talked about the QB’s meeting with the franchise’s owner. “Kirk Cousins did meet With the owner Arthur Blank a few weeks ago,” he reported, “and told them, ‘Listen, I know, it just didn’t work out over here. It was a difficult year. I was coming back from the Achilles injury, I wasn’t fully myself. I would appreciate if you guys move on and release me, give me a starting job somewhere else.’”
The #Falcons still have Kirk Cousins on the roster, and he’s now guaranteed $100M (!) from his Atlanta contract.
Atlanta hopes to trade him and believes a team may become desperate enough to make a move once the QB market settles…
Let’s explain the situation: pic.twitter.com/u7ezR5hXkO
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 19, 2025
Blank’s response? Well, the owner boldly refused to fulfill the QB’s demands, stating, “We’re gonna do what is best for the Atlanta Falcons over here,” Meirov further stated. Brutal. But why in the world Falcons don’t want to release him, considering his gigantic payday? Let’s start with his hefty $180M contract.
You see, as per Meirov, Cousins already earned around $62.5M in the last season and is all set to stack up $27.5M in 2025, fully guaranteed. To make things even more interesting, the guy has an additional $10M for the next year as well. If we round up his earnings in these three years, the QB is set to earn $100 million through 2026. The kicker? It’s all guaranteed money whether the Falcons cut him or trade him.
Now, that’s where things take an exciting turn. The Falcons have to pay their QB $27.5M in 2025, there’s no doubt about that. However, if they decide to release him, it’s literally not going to profit them. See it like this: why cut him loose and let another team scoop him up for pennies? Instead, they’re sitting back, watching the QB market shuffle like a game of musical chairs, hoping some desperate team comes knocking. When that happens, they’ll be ready to say, “Hey, you need a QB? Let’s talk trade.”
Because let’s be real—instead of releasing him for nothing, Arthur Blank and Co. would want to split his contract money. Cherry on the cake? They could even get a draft pick. In simple terms: it’s a win-win situation for the Falcons. But the big question: are they really going to get a trade call for Cousins? Probably.
The Steelers and the Giants are in the market looking for a QB. For the time being, they’ve their sight on Aaron Rodgers. But, the 41-year-old veteran is in no rush as of now and has both franchises on their waiting list. Now that brings a couple of situations for the Falcons. For starters, if Rodgers decides to retire instead of signing either with the Steelers or with the Giants, both franchises are probably going to call the Falcons’ front office for a trade.
Second, let’s just imagine for a moment that the Steelers or the Giants signed Rodgers. And well, you can guess what could happen next. Yeah, the other team’s surely going to come knocking on the Falcons’ door for Cousins. It’s a win-win situation. Once Again! With that being said, the team has plenty of options to keep Cousins on the roster. But one thing’s for sure: the Falcons are all set to release the QB once they get a deal from any other franchise. After all, as Arthur Blank said, “We’re gonna do what is best for the Atlanta Falcons.”
As for Kirk Cousins, the guy’s future is still up in the air, there’s no denying that. However, we just can’t ignore the fact that the QB is racking up a solid chunk of money.
Kirk Cousins and his first-ballot Business Hall of Fame resume
If there was a Hall of Fame for making absolute bank in the NFL, Kirk Cousins would be a first-ballot inductee. Just forget Super Bowls or MVPs—the 36-year-old QB has mastered the art of getting paid, and he’s done better than anyone—literally and figuratively. On Wednesday, Ari Meirov shared on his official ‘X’ handle that by the time Cousins’ $180M deal with the Falcons fully paid out, the guy would have stacked up over $330M in guaranteed money.
And the crazy part? Well, he has never been the highest-paid QB in the NFL. Talk about finessing your finances like a Wall Street exec. To get a deep knowledge of his hefty paychecks, let’s break down his massive contracts. It all started in Washington when the team’s back-to-back franchise tagged him in 2016 and 2017 for $19.9M and $23.9M, respectively.
Then came his unthinkable, fully guaranteed contract with the Vikings, which literally screamed, “No funny money, no ‘we’ll restructure later’ nonsense.” The guy took home $84M in his first three years with the Vikings, and just when his contract was up, the Vikings doubled down and offered him another $100M+ contract, through a contract extension.
Fast forward to 2024, and the Falcons jumped in with a $180M contract, and the rest is history. The guy’s set to stack up $27.5M this year and a $10M of $45M has already triggered into fully guaranteed for the final year of his contract. So yeah, basically, he could sit at home, binge-watch Netflix, and still make more money than most QBs who actually play.
The post Falcons Boldly Refuse Kirk Cousins’ Demands After $100M Loss as Veteran QB’s Staggering Career Earnings Come to Light appeared first on EssentiallySports.