On the day before the 2024 league year opened, the Falcons agreed to a four-year, $180MM deal with former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, a deal that will pay the 35-year-old passer (36 in August) $50MM in guaranteed money. Even if Atlanta had not signed Cousins, the club was still prepared to make a major free agent splash.
Albert Breer of SI.com, in a piece that is well-worth a read for fans of the Falcons and Vikings in particular, explores in considerable detail how Cousins came to sign with Atlanta, beginning with the February 2022 meeting between the quarterback, his agent, and Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell, whom the Vikes had just hired. While most of Breer’s writing focuses on the discussions, both football and contractual, between Cousins’ camp and Vikings brass and then between Cousins’ camp and Falcons brass, he does note that Atlanta had interest in top defensive free agents Danielle Hunter — another long-time member of the Vikings — and Christian Wilkins.
Per Breer, if the Falcons had not been successful in their pursuit of Cousins or another high-priced FA signal-caller like Baker Mayfield, they would have spent their money on defense, with Hunter and Wilkins named as potential targets. Mayfield had agreed to a new contract with the Bucs while Cousins was still in limbo, so Atlanta GM Terry Fontenot spoke with the agents for Hunter and Wilkins in case he would have to address his QB position via a trade for a player like Justin Fields or via the draft. He was told that both players would fetch at least $25MM per year, which turned out to be pretty accurate. Fontenot also explored the possibility of trading up into the top-three of the draft to land a blue-chip collegiate quarterback, though the teams holding those selections (the Bears, Commanders, and Patriots) were not interested in dealing, at least not that early in the process.
Ultimately, Cousins chose to sign with the Falcons, and Atlanta subsequently bolstered his pass-catching contingent by authorizing a notable contract for wide receiver Darnell Mooney and sending displaced quarterback Desmond Ridder to the Cardinals in exchange for slot man Rondale Moore. Without a high-end QB contract on their books, it was the Vikings who pivoted to the defensive side of the ball, adding Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Blake Cashman in quick succession while bidding farewell to Hunter.
Shortly after Cousins decided to make the move to Atlanta, he said the team simply seemed more prepared than Minnesota to commit to him on a long-term basis. Indeed, Breer reports that while the Vikings did improve their offer to Cousins as negotiations went on by putting more guaranteed money on the table, it was the structure of those guarantees that swung the pendulum in the Falcons’ favor. The Vikings’ proposals always gave them the ability to part ways with Cousins in 2025 without many financial ramifications, and Cousins ultimately felt he was being viewed as a bridge to a passer that the team would select in next month’s draft.
The Falcons’ deal, on the other hand, guarantees all of Cousins’ 2025 base salary of $27.5MM, effectively tethering player and team to each other for the next two seasons. Atlanta can realistically get out of the deal in 2026, at which point Cousins’ cap number skyrockets to $57.5MM. Still, he will at least have an NFL home beyond the upcoming campaign, which was clearly a top priority for him.
Having devoted so many resources to their offense, Fontenot & Co. will have to turn their attention to the draft to address a defense that finished 24th in DVOA and 21st in sacks in 2023. To that end, the team has scheduled a predraft visit with Alabama edge defender Dallas Turner, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports. The Vikings and Bears will also visit with Turner, who could be the first defensive player off the board.
On paper, Atlanta’s O should be playoff caliber. Now they need to devote their top picks to the D side.
I agree….although their defense was above average last year. It was just hard to tell because they were on the field so dang much every game smh
Exactly what I was about to post after reading this article. Atlanta slipped from 17th to 23rd in offensive time of possession last year as opposed to 2022. You could see the impact on the defense.
If this offense can get a few more third downs and keep the defense offense the field, the numbers from a fresh defense should improve without much help.
Yup 100%
Cousins completely strapped the Vikings not once, but twice with his guaranteed money deals. They’ll be paying for it for a couple of seasons. He’s just done the same thing to the Falcons. He’s dead cap space waiting to happen. Tom Brady’s deal did that to Tampa but it was worth it to win a championship. Will Cousins take the Falcons that far? He better…
4 year contract seems just right for the Falcons. Yes the 4th year may be cap hell but it’s nothing outlandish that will hurt them years after, especially for a good caliber, proven QB….now winning a Super Bowl? I wouldn’t bet on that
Don’t get me wrong. I do like Cousins and think he’s underrated. But they have to be thinking Super Bowl to guarantee that much. I mean, he’s putting them in the same place as he did with the Vikings. They didn’t get there (with Justin Jefferson) and they’re paying for it now. I do wish them luck though.
Yeah, and not much else. OLine was worse than average, D was absolutely terrible two of the last four seasons and about Falcons level of below average the other two.
Getting tired of folks claiming Cousins couldn’t get it done with Jefferson and Cook. So many other factors. Probably the same folks saying they would win the Super Bowl if they had gotten Lamar. Or that Cousins is 1-3 in the playoffs. Well, how good has Lamar been in the playoffs on better teams? That’s right, terrible and his stats 6 total td’s vs 12 turnovers are horrendous.
I don’t know that Cousins has anything left in the tank, but he was the best play available for a Falcons team that realistically has about a two year window before a rebuild anyway.
Well.. like I said above, I have no problem with Cousins- but he is getting paid like a QB that can lead a team all the way. Brady got it done with Tampa. Can Cousins?? The Falcons have committed a ton to find out…
It’s not his fault the Vikings kept kicking the contractual can down the road with restructuring his deal. If he signed a 3 year deal for 90 million, if they just structure it properly the first time, at the end of 3 years there would be no dead cap hit.
Well, I don’t know what the inside particulars were or what those deals entailed beyond the guarantees and the years. And really, what does “properly” mean? It’s easy to say looking back, but at the time they were already facing a cap crunch due to how much space his salary took up. They had other players to extend, and now, Jefferson, which will be huge. Now the Falcons will be under the same pressure. And they’ll pay on the back end. If they go all the way, it’ll be worth it. If not? Well…
It’s not the players responsibility to balance the books. That’s 100% on the front office.
Not really. The guaranteed portion is payable over 3 years. The 4th year only has 12M in dead cap space and a 57M savings if they decide to move on from Cousins. Pretty savvy deal on the part of Fontenot and company.
The Vikings have $137M in Cap room for 2025 so I don’t think the Kirk Cousins contract really hurt them by making the team competitive while he was here. Kirk is great and will be in Atlanta but to think Atlanta is better than Minnesota is ridiculous! Atlanta will be good because their division is horrible. Josh Dobbs beat Atlanta last year after being a Viking for hours.