Kirk Cousins and Tom Brady greet each other on the field after an NFL game
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Kirk Cousins (l) greets Tom Brady after a game at Gillette Stadium.
New Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins may not be one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time, but as of Thursday, he became one of the richest. On the all-time list of career earnings, Cousins just passed the former New England Patriots QB who is generally ranked as the single greatest of all time, Tom Brady.
According to Michael Ginnitti, co-founder and editor of the sports business site Spotrac, by signing his new contract with the Raiders, the 37-year-old Cousins “will surpass Tom Brady in NFL Career Earnings.”
In his 23-year career, Brady spent 20 seasons with the New England Patriots and three with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, pulling in just under $333 million in NFL salary and bonuses, according to Spotrac figures. That places Brady second on the all-time list, according to Spotrac, behind Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, who remains the only NFL player ever to exceed $400 million in career earnings at $408.3 million.
But with Cousins’ new Raiders contract, which was handed to him by the team that Brady partly owns, the 14-year veteran of three — now four — different teams pushes his career earnings to more than $341 million, ranking Cousins third on the all-time list behind Stafford and Rodgers.
What Does Cousins’ New Contract Pay?
Cousins joins his fourth team after being drafted by the Washington team then known as the Redskins as a fourth-round pick in 2012.
Cousins later moved to the Minnesota Vikings and then, for the past two seasons, the Atlanta Falcons.
The details of Cousins’ new Raiders contract were reported by longtime ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter on Thursday.
“Kirk Cousins will sign a five-year, $172 million deal with the Raiders that in reality is a one-year, fully-guaranteed $20 million deal that also contains a club option for two years at $80 million,” Schefter wrote. “The Falcons will pay Cousins $8.7 million this season, the Raiders another $1.3 million and Las Vegas also agreed to pay its new QB a fully-guaranteed $10 million roster bonus on the third day of the 2027 new league year.”
That guaranteed $20 million is what pushes Cousins past the retired, 48-year-old Brady on the all-time earnings list.
“Maybe most notably, it also sets another new mark,” Schefter wrote of Cousins’ Raiders deal. “This will be the 11th straight NFL season in which Cousins’ contract will be fully guaranteed.”
Why Does Cousins’ Contract Total $172 Million?
For reasons that are not entirely clear, the Raiders gave Cousins a five-year, $172 million deal with apparently no intention of keeping the veteran signal caller beyond a single season. The Raiders possess the No. 1 overall draft pick this year, and they appear a near-certainty to use it on Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza, who is coming off a season in which he won both the Heisman Trophy and, with the Hoosiers, a national championship.
But with the Raiders unlikely to contend for the postseason in 2026, general manager John Spytek has said that he wants Mendoza to spend his rookie season “learning behind somebody.”
That’s where Cousins comes in. While his skills may have declined significantly, he brings a depth of experience that could only benefit the 22-year-old Mendoza.