Super Bowl LIX has come and gone, and it's time for NFL teams to start building towards the 2025 season. In Trades to Make, we'll cover some of the best players who could be on the move as the offseason gets underway.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins
Despite inking Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract last March, the Atlanta Falcons drafted Washington Huskies quarterback Michael Penix with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. At the time, the intention appeared to be to let Cousins start for a season or two while Penix gradually adjusted to the NFL.
That didn't quite work out. After a promising 4-2 start, Cousins became untenable as a starter late in the 2024 season. The 36-year-old veteran threw a league-high 16 interceptions and fumbled an NFL-high 13 times over his 14 starts, leaving the Falcons no choice but to bench him.
Penix flashed enough potential over his three starts that the Falcons are willing to roll the dice on the second-year quarterback going forward, which leaves them in a delicate position with Cousins. One way or another, the four-time Pro-Bowler will be looking for a new home in 2025.
Who Should Be Interested?
The Falcons don't have much leverage when it comes to Cousins. Cutting him this offseason would saddle them with an outrageous $65 million in dead money. So, in a perfect world, the Falcons would avoid some of that penalty by swinging a trade with a franchise in need of a quarterback. Doing so might mean paying a significant portion of Cousins' $27.5 million in guaranteed salary due in 2025 and settling for a late-round pick.
If the 2024 season taught us anything, it's that Cousins is no longer a difference-maker at quarterback. He failed to move the needle in Atlanta, and the Minnesota Vikings, his previous team, were significantly better with journeyman quarterback Sam Darnold under center than in any of Cousins' six seasons with the team.
Still, Cousins has at least shown that he won't completely sabotage a talented offense, which is more than some quarterbacks can say. He would make sense for a franchise desperate for a playoff berth. He also belongs on a team that is missing a promising young talent or a competent veteran at quarterback but lacks the high-value draft picks or cap space to chase a player with a higher ceiling than Cousins. The Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers could both be good fits.
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