Raiders took advantage of loophole to save $8.7 million
Will the NFL eliminate the easy path for avoiding offsets?
Every NFL team wants to create an edge for itself, in every way possible. It requires an understanding of the rules, the limits of the rules, and the manner in which any loopholes can be exploited. The Raiders have taken advantage of a fairly glaring loophole in an effort to give quarterback Kirk Cousins $20 million for 2026 while only paying him $11.
3 million. It happened like this. The Falcons owed quarterback Kirk Cousins $10 million for 2026, subject to offset.
Other quarterbacks in recent years who have been cut with remaining guarantees (Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa) signed one-year deals for the minimum salary, sticking their former teams for the balance. As to Cousins, his market value exceeded $10 million. When the Falcons didn't cut Cousins after the 2024 season (despite a Sunday Splash!
report from December 2024 that they were expected to do so ), some concluded that the Falcons were content to guarantee $10 million for 2026 since he likely would get more than $10 million on the open market, allowing the Falcons to escape the final installment. Enter the loophole. If the Raiders had signed Cousins to a one-year, $20 million deal, Las Vegas would have owed Cousins all of it — and the Falcons would have owed nothing.