FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — With four days remaining before the NFL’s trade deadline, Kirk Cousins remains an Atlanta Falcon. And no one is expecting that to change.
The veteran quarterback finishing the 2025 season in Atlanta is an outcome that seemed unlikely when the Falcons benched Cousins in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr. in Week 16 last year and declared Penix the quarterback of the future.
It seemed even less likely this past offseason, when Cousins revealed he was injured from Week 12 on and the team responded that was news to them. Cousins requested a trade during a March phone call with team owner Arthur Blank and a Netflix documentary was released in which Cousins said he felt “misled” by the team leading up to the 2024 draft.
Throughout it all, though, the Falcons (3-4) insisted they weren’t releasing Cousins and were not interested in trading him without ample compensation. It appears they have yet to have any serious trade discussions with another team about Cousins and they are headed toward finishing out the season with both Cousins and Penix.
Any hope that a serious discussion would materialize heading into the trade deadline took a hit in Week 8 when Cousins was 21-of-31 for 173 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions in place of an injured Penix as the Falcons managed only 213 yards of offense against the Dolphins. It was his first start of the season, and the performance was a surprise to the coaching staff, coach Raheem Morris said, because Cousins looked healthy and sharp throughout training camp and during in-season practices.
“He hasn’t played in a little bit, obviously, and I’m sure he’d be the first to tell you he can play better,” offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said. “We have to play better around him is the biggest thing. We didn’t give him much of a chance.”
Cousins staying on the roster through the end of this season doesn’t mean this is a long-term relationship, of course. Morris hasn’t wavered in his faith in Penix, forcefully reiterating even when the young quarterback has struggled that he is the Falcons’ starter of the present and the future.
That means Cousins will almost certainly be released this offseason. He would count $57.5 million against the salary cap in each of the next two seasons if he finishes out his four-year contract in Atlanta, but the Falcons can cut Cousins with a post-June 1 designation and save $80 million in cap space over the next two seasons. If that’s the route Atlanta takes, it would have a $22.5 million dead-cap hit in 2026 and a $12.5 million dead-cap hit in 2027.
Standing pat on Cousins doesn’t mean the Falcons won’t do anything at the trade deadline, though. Atlanta has two big needs that could be addressed — one for now and one for later.
The most pressing immediate need is at wide receiver, where Drake London has accounted for 469 of the 839 receiving yards produced by the position despite missing last week’s game against the Dolphins. Darnell Mooney, who had 992 receiving yards last year, has only 11 catches for 158 yards and has missed two games due to shoulder and hamstring injuries.
Robinson said this week that he believes Mooney will “take a big jump from this point forward.” Even if that does happen, no third option has emerged at the position. Atlanta has auditioned both Casey Washington and David Sills V for the job, but they have combined for only nine catches.
Sills “is doing a good job of separating when he gets chances, the ball just hasn’t found him that much,” Robinson said.
The Falcons are hopeful London (hip) can return to the lineup this week against New England, but there are plenty of wide receiver options if they’re interested in making a deal.
Atlanta could also be a seller before the deadline. After adding edge rushers Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. in the first round of the 2025 draft, the Falcons have enough depth at the position that they might be able to catch the eye of teams needing pass-rush help.
The most obvious candidate in the edge-rushing group to get traded is Arnold Ebiketie, who is in the final year of his rookie deal after being selected with the 38th pick in the 2022 draft. Ebiketie doesn’t have a sack and has only one quarterback hit this year, but he had six sacks in each of the last two seasons.
If the Falcons do trade an edge rusher, they could get a wide receiver in return or could try to restock next year’s draft class, which consists of five picks after the team traded away next year’s first and fifth rounders in draft-day deals this spring.
Atlanta has a need on the offensive line, as well, but it’s unlikely they will make another trade at that position because veteran Storm Norton is expected to return from injured reserve as early as this week and can provide immediate competition for Elijah Wilkinson at right tackle.