At 4 pm EST on Tuesday, the NFL commerce deadline expired. A flurry of trades that day throughout the league reshaped playoff hopes and future rosters alike.
The New York Jets have been among the many largest winners, offloading stars Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams in alternate for a staggering haul of draft picks — three first-rounders and a second between 2026 and 2027. The Philadelphia Eagles earned reward, too, for making good, focused strikes that strengthened their protection with out overpaying, including move rusher Jaelan Phillips and cornerback Michael Carter II. On the opposite finish of the spectrum, contenders just like the Payments and Chiefs stood pat, irritating followers who anticipated midseason reinforcements.
One other main winner was Kirk Cousins. Sadly, on the flip aspect, his workforce, the Atlanta Falcons, might have been the day’s largest loser. Why? As a result of the second the clock struck 4 pm, the Falcons grew to become obligated to pay Cousins $90 million… to be a backup quarterback.
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The $90 Million Backup
Again in March 2024, the Falcons signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract that included $90 million totally assured. On paper, it appeared like a powerful, if barely dear, transfer for a franchise determined for quarterback stability. Cousins, coming off an Achilles tear in Minnesota, had constructed a status as some of the environment friendly passers in soccer and some of the shrewd negotiators in NFL historical past.
Then got here the plot twist. Simply six weeks later, Atlanta used the eighth general choose within the draft to pick quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The choice surprised the league. Cousins hadn’t even performed a down for the workforce but, and immediately, his long-term substitute was sitting behind him within the quarterback room.
The transfer immediately difficult every little thing. Cousins began the 2024 season because the workforce’s veteran chief, however when Penix took over, Cousins’ position shifted from cornerstone to placeholder. The workforce reportedly explored commerce choices all through 2025, hoping to maneuver no less than a part of his huge deal off the books. However when no market materialized earlier than Tuesday’s deadline, the assured cash grew to become unshakable.
With the deadline now handed, Atlanta is locked into paying Cousins $90 million for simply 15 video games — 14 begins final season and one this 12 months. That works out to about $6 million per recreation, a staggering return for a quarterback who’s now anticipated to spend the rest of his Falcons tenure holding a clipboard. It is the newest chapter in some of the financially inconceivable careers the league has ever seen.
$411 Million Profession Earnings
It is arduous to fault Cousins for any of this. For greater than a decade, he is turned methodical play and ideal timing right into a monetary masterclass. From the second Washington franchise-tagged him twice in a row — paying him $46 million over two seasons — Cousins has by no means missed an opportunity to maximise his leverage. In 2018, he grew to become the primary quarterback in NFL historical past to signal a completely assured contract, touchdown $84 million from the Minnesota Vikings.
He adopted that cope with a two-year, $66 million extension, then a one-year, $35 million contract, bringing his Minnesota earnings to roughly $230 million. Add in his time with Washington and his first two seasons in Atlanta, and Cousins has now earned about $321 million in precise profession money.
Due to the ensures in his Falcons contract, Cousins can be locked in to obtain the total $90 million from the primary half of his four-year deal — even when he by no means begins one other recreation. That brings his complete assured profession earnings to roughly $384 million. And if he stays on Atlanta’s roster by 2027, he’ll push that complete to about $411 million, which might rank among the many high three highest profession earnings in NFL historical past, alongside Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.
All of it has been constructed on one constant technique: betting on himself. Cousins has by no means been among the many NFL’s elite by way of athleticism or playoff success, however he is unmatched relating to turning alternative into assured cash. At this level, he isn’t only a quarterback — he is a one-man case examine in easy methods to win the enterprise aspect of the NFL.
