Falcons don’t seem to be worried about the upcoming $10 million guarantee for Kirk Cousins

The Falcons have an upcoming deadline in the Kirk Cousins contract. They don’t seem to be worried about it.

They have good reason not to worry. He’s not owed an extra $10 million on the fifth day of the 2025 league year. Instead, that’s the moment a $10 million roster bonus due in March 2026 shifts from guaranteed for injury to fully guaranteed.

They owe him $27.5 million, fully guaranteed, for 2025. They paid him $62.5 million in 2024. While $27.5 million is pricey for a backup, the Falcons have new starter Michael Penix, Jr. on a rookie deal. He’s due to make $1.835 million this year.

They can easily afford a total cash commitment in 2025 of $29.335 million for the top two spots on the quarterback depth. They also can handle the total cap charge of $45.2 million. (If they have an automatic right to restructure the deal, they also could significantly reduce Cousins’s cap number below $40 million.)

Back to the 2026 roster bonus. If the Falcons cut Cousins after the 2025 season, they’ll be entitled to an offset for whatever he makes elsewhere next year. If he takes the minimum and sticks the Falcons with the balance, he’ll be capped at $10 million for 2026. There’s no reason for Cousins, who turns 37 in August, to expect — or accept — maximum pay of $10 million in 2026.

So the $10 million isn’t the problem that some seem to think it is. First, the money isn’t due this year. Second, they might get every penny of it back next year, after he’s released.

For now, the Falcons’ true intentions aren’t known. They’ve resisted cutting Cousin. They could trade him if they wait out the ongoing game of quarterback musical chairs, and if there’s a team that doesn’t like the other available options. (Cousins would also have to waive his no-trade clause.)

Or the Falcons could keep Cousins at the affordable price of $27.5 million for 2025, install him as Penix’s backup, and not sweat the $10 million roster bonus because they’re confident (as they should be) that he’ll make more than that with a new team in 2026, if they cut him before the due date arrives.