ClutchPoints
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.
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.
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...
