Kirk Cousins Will Join The Falcons On A 4-Year Deal (UPDATE)

UPDATE: Per Dianna Russini of The Athletic, Cousins will get $180 million from the Falcons, but only the first two years of the deal are fully guaranteed.

EARLIER: Ever since he became a full-time starter nine years ago in Washington, Kirk Cousins has been remarkably consistent. He has never been among the NFL’s elite, but he’s sat comfortably in the “good” category of quarterbacks for nearly a decade. You can pencil Cousins in for north of 4,000 yards, ~30 touchdowns, and ~10 interceptions just about every season (with some margin for error).

That’s not going to win any MVP awards, but it is better than most teams get out of their quarterback position on an annual basis. For that reason, even coming off of an Achilles injury eight games into this past season, Cousins was the hottest quarterback name on the free agent market. While many teams at the bottom of the league will look to the Draft in April to solve their quarterback issues, those in the middle looking for an upgrade figured to take a long look at Cousins, giving him some serious leverage to land another big contract coming off of injury.

Minnesota wanted to bring Cousins back, but they had competition, namely from the Atlanta Falcons who are desperate to upgrade their QB spot after watching Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke effectively cost them a playoff berth a year ago. And on Monday afternoon, media reports about Cousins heading to Atlanta were confirmed by his agent, who announced that he will sign a 4-year deal.

Cousins will turn 36 before the 2024 season and is coming off of an achilles tear, so the financial terms here will be especially interesting. Regardless, the Falcons went out and got an upgrade at QB for new head coach Raheem Morris as they look to break a 6-year postseason drought.