Skip Bayless has admitted he cannot wrap his head around Kirk Cousins’ place among the NFL’s highest earners.
The disbelief is not random, it comes at a time when Cousins is set to climb even higher on the all-time earnings list.
With his new Las Vegas Raiders deal, his guaranteed career earnings are projected to reach around $341.6 million, pushing him past Tom Brady into second place all-time, trailing only Matthew Stafford.
That is what makes Bayless’ reaction so striking. The numbers suggest one story, but his long-held view of Cousins tells another.
Skip Bayless says Kirk Cousins’ earnings still feel impossible
Bayless shared his reaction in a clip posted via ArenaGridiron, where he struggled to reconcile Cousins’ earnings with his perception of the player.
The context is that Cousins is already among the top earners in NFL history and is now on the verge of overtaking some of the biggest names the league has ever seen.
He said, “I’m still, like, I looked at this list again last night and truly laughed out loud at the list. Because, I’m saying, this is impossible that this happened. It’s impossible.
“Because I’m still a prisoner of the first impressions of Kirk Cousins, because, obviously, lifelong die hard Cowboys fan. For a long time I’m rooting against Cousins.”
The reaction reflects how difficult it is to align Cousins’ financial success with the way he has historically been viewed by certain fanbases.
Skip Bayless says the Cowboys’ record against Kirk Cousins shaped his view
Bayless made it clear that his perception is heavily influenced by how Cousins performed against Dallas, which contrasts sharply with his financial rise.
Bayless added, “And I started rooting for Cousins because I loved playing against him when he was in Washington and I was in Dallas, because we were 6-0 against Kirk Cousins.
“Lifetime, we are 9-3 against Cousins. … To me, Kirk Cousins has always been the best of the rest.”
That record explains why Bayless struggles with the current reality, where Cousins is about to sit second all-time in guaranteed earnings despite never being viewed in that elite tier.
It is that gap between perception and financial outcome that makes the situation feel so unusual from his perspective.
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