Kirk Cousins Paid by Three NFL Teams: $10M This Season

Kirk Cousins is getting paid by three different NFL teams this season — $10 million in total — after the trade deadline sent him back to the Minnesota Vikings. The Las Vegas Raiders traded the 38-year-old quarterback to Minnesota in exchange for a 2027 third-round pick, and the deal leaves Cousins collecting cheques from the Raiders, the Vikings and the Atlanta Falcons, a team he has not played for in almost a year.

The Trade That Brought Cousins Home

The NFL trade deadline has come and gone, and perhaps the biggest move of all was Cousins’ return to Minnesota. Las Vegas is ready to turn to rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick, while the Vikings are 6-2 despite wildly inconsistent quarterback play from Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz.

Minnesota still has playoff aspirations in the difficult NFC North, and Cousins is a familiar face there. He played for the team from 2018 to 2023, has a strong relationship with several players — including superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson — has played for head coach Kevin O’Connell and knows his offensive system. He also performed well enough for the Raiders that Vikings fans have hope for the second half of the season.

Three Paychecks, $10 Million

During the offseason, Cousins signed a five-year, $172 million contract to join the Raiders. It seems like a lot to pay for a quarterback who turned 38 shortly before the season began, but the deal really breaks down as a one-year commitment for $20 million.

This season, per Front Office Sports, the Raiders have paid Cousins $650,000. He will make another $650,000 from the Vikings, to account for his total $1.3 million salary. Cousins is also making $8.7 million from the Atlanta Falcons — money that is guaranteed to him even though Atlanta released him in March. Cousins last played a game for the Falcons almost a full year ago, on 11 December 2025.

That adds up to $10 million Cousins will make this season, from three different teams, for playing for two of them.

The $10 Million Bonus — and the $80 Million Decision

The outcome Celebrity Net Worth says it will probably see is that Cousins plays half a season in Minnesota, and then the team releases him to become a free agent after the year ends. In that scenario, the Vikings would pay Cousins a $10 million bonus in early 2027, even though he was no longer on the team. That is part of the guarantee he got with his Raiders contract.

But suppose Cousins ends this season on a hot stretch. If he plays at an elite level, and the Vikings finish 12-5 or 13-4 and win the NFC North, make some noise in the playoffs and reach the Super Bowl, the maths changes completely. If Cousins is still on Minnesota’s roster by the fifth day of the league year — 15 March 2027 — he will be guaranteed $80 million over the next two seasons.

Should this turn into more than a half-year rental, it is highly unlikely Minnesota would keep the contract as is. The team would likely look to restructure Cousins’ deal while drafting a rookie quarterback or signing a younger player who can learn under the veteran.

A Career Built on Smart Contracts

For his career, Cousins has made just over $333 million, according to Spotrac, putting him fourth in all-time NFL earnings — ahead of almost every quarterback in history, including the league’s new generation of highly paid passers such as Caleb Williams. He and his agent have regularly negotiated smart contracts, and this one is no exception: a deal that pays him from three teams at once, with a $10 million bonus waiting if he is released and an $80 million guarantee waiting if he is not.

Net worth figures are estimates only, based on public sources.