Falcons Getting Trading Inquiries For Kirk Cousins, 3rd-Rd Pick ‘Potentially Actionable’

Josina Anderson reports that the Falcons have received “preliminary” trade inquiries for QB Kirk Cousins.

“Atlanta has been getting calls,” a source tells Anderson.

She has “heard talk of a third-round pick being potentially actionable” for the Falcons in regards to a Cousins trade.

The Falcons opted to keep Cousins on their roster past 4 pm EST on Saturday, which triggered a guaranteed $10 million roster bonus for the 2026 season. 

Many around the league suspect the Falcons will eventually trade Cousins, but the Falcons have said that they’re comfortable retaining him as a backup to Michael Penix Jr. 

Cousins, 36, is a former fourth-round pick of Washington back in 2012. He played out the final year of his rookie contract before being franchised in back-to-back seasons. 

Cousins later departed in free agency for a three-year, $84 million contract with the Vikings. He was entering the final year of his contract in 2020 when he agreed to a two-year, $66 million contract extension. In 2021, he agreed to a new one-year, $35 million contract extension that was also fully guaranteed.

He was in the final year of that deal in 2023 and was testing the market as an unrestricted free agent when signing with the Falcons this offseason. He inked a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed. 

In 2024, Cousins appeared in 14 games for the Falcons and completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

We’ll have more on Cousins as the news is available.