It doesn't matter if it's 2016 or 2026, Kirk Cousins is going to get paid handsomely by an NFL team.
Cousins, 37, is taking his talents to the Las Vegas Raiders for the 2026 season. He's coming off a 2025 season with the Atlanta Falcons where he completed 61.7% of his passes for 1,721 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.
As part of Cousins' agreement with the Raiders, he'll receive $20 million in guaranteed money in 2026. His deal includes a club option for two years at $80 million. He could make up to $172 million over five years, but it's hard to imagine he'll be in Las Vegas for that long.
ESPN's Adam Schefter pointed out that Cousins will now go 11 straight seasons where his contract is fully guaranteed.
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Cousins has already earned over $321 million in his NFL career. After the terms of his contract with the Raiders were revealed, NFL fans went on social media to praise his agent, Mike McCartney of VaynerSports.
"Kirk Cousins agent gotta be the greatest of all time," one fan declared.
"His agent is actually the greatest finesser ever dude no way they’re actually paying a 37 year old Kirk Cousins $20m to ride the bench all year," a second fan commented.
"Induct whoever Kirk Cousins agent is into the Hall of Fame this instant," another fan said. "That man knows how to get teams to pay yacht's of money to his players, but especially Kirko."
Kirk Cousins has a chance to mentor a Heisman Trophy winner.
Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak recently said that he doesn't believe rookie quarterbacks should be forced to start Week 1 if they're not ready.
"Ideally, you don’t want him to start from day one," Kubiak said, via Fox Sports. "You’d love him to be able to learn behind somebody. That’s in a perfect world. It doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes they have to play from day one and it’s our job as coaches to get them ready to go. I think it does help the player if they can sit behind a mature adult and watch how they run the show."
Those comments from Kubiak turned plenty of heads since the Raiders are expected to take Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick.
Luckily for Mendoza, he could learn a thing or two from Cousins before becoming the franchise quarterback in Las Vegas.
