Kirk Cousins will leave the Vikings, agreeing to terms with the Falcons

In six years with the Vikings, Kirk Cousins started more games at quarterback than all but two players in franchise history, and threw more touchdown passes than all but one. He signed the first fully guaranteed veteran contract in NFL history six years ago, led the Vikings to their first road playoff victory in 15 years, earned $185 million from the team, went from an enigma to a popular figure thanks in part to a Netflix series, directed the largest comeback in NFL history on the way to a division title and lost his only home playoff game.

He tore his right Achilles tendon at Lambeau Field on Oct. 29. It turned out to be his final game as the Vikings starting quarterback.

On Monday, Cousins’ agent, Mike McCartney, posted on social media that the quarterback had agreed to terms on a four-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons. Once the free agent signing period begins on Wednesday afternoon, Cousins’ time with the Vikings will officially be over.

He exits having made more money than any player in team history, and leaves Minnesota poised to sign a contract with more guaranteed money than the Vikings seemed willing to give him coming off a torn Achilles at age 35.

His deal with Atlanta is worth $180 million over four years, with $100 million of guaranteed money. Cousins said in January the structure of his next contract was more important than the total dollar amount; his negotiations with the Vikings, in other words, seemed as if they would play out on the same grounds where they ended a year earlier, with the quarterback seeking long-term guarantees and the team’s interest in a multiyear commitment likely to be tempered by its pursuit of a quarterback in the 2024 draft.

In a statement on Monday afternoon, Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said the team had “significant and positive dialogue with Kirk and his representatives,” but that the sides “were unable to reach agreement on a contract that fits the short and long-term visions for both Kirk and the Minnesota Vikings.

“Kirk holds a special place in Vikings history, and we appreciate his leadership and contributions to the team and the Minneapolis-St. Paul community over the past six seasons. We wish him, his wife, Julie, and their children all the best.”

If Cousins and McCartney have earned a reputation as masterful negotiators during the quarterback’s 12-year career, the deal they struck with the Falcons might have burnished it even further.

Cousins’ deal with Atlanta contains many of the accoutrements McCartney worked into his deals with the Vikings: a no-trade clause, a roster bonus that’s guaranteed a year before it’s paid, annual $2 million incentives. The quarterback will make $62.5 million in cash this year, through a $50 million signing bonus and fully-guaranteed $12.5 million base salary. His $27.5 million salary in 2025 is fully guaranteed, too, and while his $10 million roster bonus in 2026 is only guaranteed against injury now, it becomes fully guaranteed if Cousins is on the Falcons’ roster the fifth day of the 2025 league year.

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Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah said they wanted Cousins to return, and the quarterback had spoken frequently about his desire to finish his career in Minnesota. He ranked near the top of the league in completion percentage (69.5%), passing yards (2,331) and touchdowns (18) at the time of his injury, which came in the fourth quarter of a third consecutive victory that brought the Vikings back to .500 after a 1-4 start. The Packers game came six days after a 378-yard performance in a stirring Monday night win over the 49ers.

He’d seemed to open up under O’Connell, embracing the dorky dad persona that was highlighted in last summer’s “Quarterback” series on Netflix and earning a larger platform to address teammates about the keys to a lengthy NFL career. Wide receiver Justin Jefferson backed Cousins publicly on multiple occasions, and when he was asked in January whether he wanted Cousins back, right tackle Brian O’Neill said, “Absolutely. One thousand million percent. I’d rather have nobody else than Kirk under center for us.”

Cousins’ play in 2023, coupled with his progress in his rehab from surgery, made him the top quarterback on the free agent market this spring, though. The Falcons were rumored to be atop the list of teams interested in signing him. Less than three hours into Monday’s negotiating window, McCartney announced the two sides had an agreement.

For the quarterback, it means he’ll play for a team that figures to run a similar offense under coordinator Zac Robinson to the one he ran in Minnesota under O’Connell. He’s also set to play the rest of his 30s in the city where his wife, Julie, grew up, and where her family still lives.

For the Vikings, the move means replacing the quarterback they’d embraced, but never fully committed to, under Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell.

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A year ago, the Vikings had added two void years to Cousins’ contract in 2023, rather than giving him the long-term deal he sought, when the two sides reached an impasse over guarantee structure. Multiple sources said Cousins had sought guaranteed money through 2025, while the Vikings were willing to offer it only through 2024. Though the Vikings could have signed Cousins until Wednesday without having to absorb all $28.5 million of the dead money left on his contract, his departure seemed imminent once the NFL’s legal negotiating window opened on Monday morning without a new deal between the team and QB.

The Vikings have said they’d prefer not to start a rookie quarterback, and they’re likely to pursue a veteran on the free agent market as they scout the passers in a promising college class. Their preference, it seemed, was to bring Cousins back and find a rookie who could develop behind him. Instead, they could pursue short-term options like 49ers quarterback Sam Darnold -- a former teammate of QB coach Josh McCown’s -- while exploring their options in the draft.

The team holds the 11th overall pick in April, but had explored trading up for a quarterback last year. Cousins’ departure could increase the likelihood the Vikings make an aggressive move up for a QB in this year’s draft. If they draft one in the Top 10, they’d do so for the first time in team history.

Cousins, meanwhile, will leave Minnesota with a 50-37-1 record as a starter, having gone 17-8 with O’Connell after a 33-29-1 mark with Mike Zimmer. The quarterback seemed to be growing in O’Connell’s offense at the time of his injury, and at the NFL combine last month, O’Connell made it clear he wanted Cousins back.

“Kirk Cousins knows how I feel about him; I’ve held no secrets there,” O’Connell said. “He knows how the Minnesota Vikings feel about him. I believe Kirk wants to be a Viking. And we’re going to work to try to make that the outcome.”

At the same time, though, he nodded toward an uncertain future with the QB, saying, “Like we’ve seen in free agency, you’ve got to be ready in a leadership position to have contingency plans and adjust on the fly.” They seemed comfortable letting Cousins gauge his value on the market, betting he might decide to stay in Minnesota once he’d considered other options.

Instead, he chose a new team in free agency for the second time in his career. The Vikings host the Falcons in 2024. Unless that’s the Vikings home game the NFL moves to London, Cousins will return to U.S. Bank Stadium as a visitor.

The Vikings, winners of the Cousins sweepstakes six years ago, will stake Adofo-Mensah’s and O’Connell’s tenure on the idea they can prosper without him.