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After benching Kirk Cousins for Michael Penix Jr. late in the 2024 season, the Atlanta Falcons' 2025 offseason has been coated in trade rumors. While Cousins stuck with the team through the draft, he remains the Falcons' top trade candidate entering training camp.
Cousins has been a trade candidate since the Falcons benched him in Week 16 of the 2024 season. General manager Terry Fontenot has attempted to move him multiple times since then, but, unsurprisingly, no team has been willing to take on the 36-year-old's massive contract. Cousins is owed nearly $120 million over the next three seasons.
Cousins still has some left in the tank, but is the unfortunate victim of one of the strangest quarterback situations in recent memory. He turned heads by signing a four-year, $180 million deal with the Falcons in 2024, despite coming off a season-ending Achilles injury. However, less than two months after breaking the bank on Cousins, Atlanta drafted Penix with the No. 9 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The series of head-scratching moves led to their current inevitable conundrum.
Trading the veteran has proven difficult, but the Falcons continue to make calls. While Atlanta has come around to the idea of keeping Cousins as an expensive backup, Fontenot will never officially close the door on a potential trade. Once training camps and the preseason near, the right opportunity might present itself as quarterback-needy teams become more desperate.
Barring an injury, Cousins will never get the full-time starting gig back. Atlanta is committed to Penix and will stick with the southpaw, even through his struggles and growing pains. However, with Cousins still viewed as a potential starter around the league, he remains the Falcons' top trade candidate entering 2025 training camp.
Kirk Cousins is Falcons' top trade candidate
As absurd as his contract is, Cousins continues to generate trade buzz on a regular basis. While it seemed like the 2025 NFL Draft was his best chance of finding a new team, both Cousins and the Falcons might need to exercise patience in hopes of a future deal.
Nothing is guaranteed, but Cousins is almost certainly not going to regain the starting role. The gunslinger threw just one touchdown in his final five weeks as the starter while tossing nine interceptions. His rough stretch included a brutal four-game stretch without a single touchdown, leading to an abysmal 0:8 touchdown-interception ratio from Weeks 10 to 14.
Turnovers have always been an issue for Cousins, but they reached an all-time high in 2024. The 13-year veteran threw a career-high 16 interceptions on the year, despite playing just 14 games. He led the Falcons on a disastrous 1-4 stretch — including a pair of blowout losses to the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos — in his final month as the starter.
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With the Penix era fully underway, the Falcons seem to be trending toward moving on from Cousins. Atlanta signed longtime Los Angeles Chargers backup Easton Stick in free agency, suggesting it is ready for the next chapter. The team also has former undrafted free agent Emory Jones on the roster as a potential practice squad signee.
If the Falcons release Cousins, he would quickly get scooped up by one of the many teams in need of his veteran services. Yet, the process is much easier said than done, given Atlanta's already tight cap situation. Fontenot briefly flirted with the idea early in the offseason before quickly realizing the numerous issues the move would create.
Kirk Cousins' most likely landing spots
Unfortunately for Cousins, his trade market dried up once the initial wave of free agency ended. Cousins benefited most from the lack of starting-caliber quarterbacks available in the market, but that initial window has closed. However, with training camps on deck, the Falcons can still potentially make a deal with the proper suitor.
The New Orleans Saints stand out as the team most likely to need a quarterback. Following Derek Carr's sudden retirement, the Saints are limited to rookie Tyler Shough and second-year players Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener. New Orleans seems content with starting Shough for now, but once the rookie officially takes the field, that notion could quickly change. Either way, the team could certainly use a veteran signal-caller in the locker room, even as a backup.
With injury concerns regarding Anthony Richardson, the Indianapolis Colts also emerged as a potential candidate. The Colts have Daniel Jones as a secondary option, but given his shaky history with the New York Giants, they might look to add another veteran like Cousins.
Several other teams, including the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals, could emerge as dark-horse candidates. However, given Cousins' salary, any potential deal would likely involve three or more teams and a series of contractual agreements to make numbers work.
Ahead of training camp, an in-season trade still seems most optimal for Cousins and the Falcons in 2025. Once a contending team suffers a devastating injury, the 36-year-old's contract might not seem like such a bad idea. The overwhelmingly likely scenario is Cousins sticking with Atlanta as Penix's backup, but if Fontenot makes any further moves, it will likely involve removing the biggest liability from his roster.
