Kirk Cousins

Career StatsB

Year	Team	GP	Yards	TD	INT	RTG
Career		174	44,700	298	131	96.8
2025		10	1,721	10	5	84.8
2024		14	3,508	18	16	88.6

Season	Team	GP	Yds	TD	INT	Rtg	Grade
2025		10	1721	10	5	84.8	D D Bottom 20%
2024		14	3508	18	16	88.6	C+ C+ Top 48% — above average
2023		8	2331	18	5	103.8	B+ B+ Top 20%
2022		17	4547	29	14	92.5	C+ C+ Top 48% — above average
2021		16	4221	33	7	103.1	B+ B+ Top 20%
2020		16	4265	35	13	105.0	A A Top 9%
2019		15	3603	26	6	107.4	B+ B+ Top 20%
2018		16	4298	30	10	56.3	C C Around average
2017		16	4093	27	13	56.3	C- C- Below average
2016		16	4917	25	12	97.2	B B Top 29%
2015		16	4166	29	11	56.3	C+ C+ Top 48% — above average
2014		6	1710	10	9	86.4	C+ C+ Top 48% — above average
2013		5	854	4	7	58.4	F F Bottom 5%

Grades reflect the player's performance in each season. Header grade shows the current season.

Current Contract

Contract Value Index (CVI)

This signing grades out as an overpay for the Las Vegas Raiders — the team is paying more than the on-field production currently warrants. Kirk's on-field performance ranks in the middle of the pack among NFL QBs, grading him as a serviceable starter at the position. His $6.3M average annual value ranks as minimum-level money for the QB market. The concern here is the gap between production and cost — serviceable starter output at minimum-level money means the team is paying a premium above the player's on-field value. Kirk is squarely in his prime, which adds to the deal's upside — the team should get multiple productive seasons out of this contract. The 2-year, $12.6M deal ($11.3M guaranteed, 89%) keeps the commitment short, giving the team financial flexibility to move on if performance drops.

Contracts in the Same Value Band

Other same-position deals the Contract Value Index also places in the C band — a quick read on where Kirk's contract sits relative to comparable money.

Performance Analysis

How Kirk Cousins plays at QB earns him a B performance grade. At 37 and in his 14th NFL season, Cousins remains a solid starter caliber quarterback, though one operating well within the constraints of his veteran stage and recent injury history rather than as a dynamic or ascendant force. In 2025 he appeared in 10 games, a limited workload that reflects both the toll of a torn Achilles and the organization's clear intention to preserve snaps for younger development—a reality the media narrative has amplified relentlessly as the organization courts Ferdinand Mendoza as a potential long-term successor. His on-field production aligns with the cautious framing around him: serviceable floor, zero upside trajectory, and the kind of game-management capability that functions as a bridge rather than a building block. The Raiders have signaled their true priority through roster construction, rotating depth pieces at receiver and defensive line while keeping the quarterback competition genuinely unsettled heading into the regular season; Cousins may earn Week 1 starts based on the safest short-term calculus, but that's institutional acknowledgment of his floor, not confidence in his ceiling. At this stage of his career, with injury recovery still a live question and a younger competitor breathing down his neck, Cousins is less a franchise cornerstone and more a placeholder tasked with absorbing snaps while Las Vegas sorts out its quarterback future.

How Kirk Compares at the Position

Kirk Cousins ranks 21st of 106 graded quarterbacks by performance. That slots Kirk between Dak Prescott (B) just ahead and Russell Wilson (B) just behind.

Fan Sentiment

The talk around Kirk Cousins this stretch nets a C+ sentiment grade. Media coverage has fixated on the uncomfortable reality of his age—he's 37, coming off a torn Achilles that sidelined him for much of 2025—paired with the emerging narrative that he's a band-aid solution for a rebuilding franchise. The Raiders inked him to absorb snaps while the organization figures out whether first-overall pick Fernando Mendoza is the long-term answer, and recent headlines make clear the quarterback battle is genuinely unsettled; oddsmakers and talking heads favor Cousins to start Week 1, yet there's palpable skepticism about whether that's a vote of confidence or simply recognition that a 37-year-old bridge veteran is the safest short-term option. His on-field performance grades at C, which aligns with the cautious media framing—serviceable floor, zero upside trajectory—and the Raiders' recent roster tinkering (adding depth at receiver, tight end, and the secondary while cutting defensive line depth) suggests Las Vegas is building around youth, not betting on Cousins to lead anything meaningful. The prevailing sentiment has cooled noticeably from his signing; what initially looked like a veteran safety net now reads as a placeholder move for a franchise in genuine transition, one that acknowledges Cousins' inability to move the needle while the real quarterback story belongs to Mendoza's development arc.