The Kirk Cousins saga won’t truly be over until the Falcons have cleared his $12.5 million dead money charge for 2027, but we’re putting the era in the rear view mirror nonetheless. The headline from a Falcons perspective is that the signing, which is for $1.3 million in base salary and carries a few nice perks, will give Atlanta $1.3 million in salary cap relief against the $10 million roster bonus they owed him. That essentially means they get Tua Tagovailoa’s salary for 2026 (also $1.3 million) back, and will be paying $8.7 million instead. As mentioned before, they’ll also have $12.5 million in dead money next year, but as of right now that’s set to be their only dead money impacting the cap. They’re carrying $22.5 million in dead money this year, however.

Source: New York Times April 03, 2026 08:29 UTC