On Thursday, the Las Vegas Raiders signed Kirk Cousins to an odd contract, with a bunch of fluff added to it, for him to be their bridge quarterback, presumably so that Fernando Mendoza doesn’t have to start all 17 games as a rookie in 2026. On paper, Cousins signed a five-year, $172 million deal, but it’s really a one-year, $20 million deal where the Raiders will only have to pay $11.3 million while his old team, the Atlanta Falcons, is still on the hook for $8.7 million.
According to The Athletic’s
Dianna Russini, though, there were plenty of suitors in the Cousins sweepstakes. This allegedly included the Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers. Both Sean McVay (Rams) and Matt LaFleur (Packers), who were in Washington with Cousins to start his career, need a backup, so those check out. Interestingly, the Cardinals are still poking around for quarterbacks after retaining Jacoby Brissett and signing Gardner Minshew this offseason.
It’s hard to imagine that the Packers would have spent more than about $5 million on Cousins, which is about the going rate for a true backup quarterback at this point. The fact that the Raiders thought of Cousins as a bridge quarterback instead of a backup is why Cousins got that pay bump.
Green Bay is going to be compensatory pick-conscious with their decisions this offseason, as they want to protect their 2027 draft choices as much as possible. General manager Brian Gutekunst stated at the league meetings this week that a major factor in the signing of defensive tackle Javon Hargrave was the fact that he didn’t offset a draft choice because he was not a compensatory free agent (he was released from his previous team, not just a player whose contract expired). Notably, Cousins was released from Atlanta, so he wouldn’t have counted against the Packers’ comp picks.
Because of comp pick formula, the Packers might end up sitting out the backup quarterback market until the Monday after the draft, when the comp pick formula stops counting compensatory free agents. After that point, teams are not penalized for signing outside free agents.
Notable backup quarterbacks still out there on the market include Russell Wilson, Tyrod Taylor, Jimmy Garoppolo and Teddy Bridgewater. Keep an eye on whether these players sign pre-draft or wait until restrictions drop off teams after the draft.
