Kirk Cousins Had a Bad Tuesday
When the 2025 regular season kicked off, many considered Kirk Cousins the No. 1 trade candidate at quarterback if an injury beset a star passer. Then, when the Cincinnati Bengals made a move on Tuesday to bridge the gap between Joe Burrow’s return to the lineup, they acquired Joe Flacco from the Cleveland Browns — not Cousins.
Kirk Cousins, who used to play for the Minnesota Vikings, missed his one big chance on Tuesday and now must continue to play the waiting game.
The 37-year-old Cousins will now wait longer in Atlanta for trade marching orders, which may not come until the 2026 offseason, if at all.
No Luck for Kirk Cousins via Trade on Tuesday
Flacco over Cousins was Cincinnati’s mindset.
Bengals Trade for Joe Flacco, Not Kirk Cousins
A high-profile veteran passer was shipped to a quarterback-needy team this week, but Cousins didn’t hear his name called.
NFL.com‘s Kevin Patra wrote Tuesday, “The Cincinnati Bengals made a quarterback move in an attempt to save a spiraling season. The Bengals acquired quarterback Joe Flacco in a trade with the Cleveland Browns on Tuesday, the teams announced. The trade includes a swap of Day 3 2026 draft picks with a fifth going to Cleveland for a sixth and Flacco.”
“NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero initially reported the deal. Flacco started the first four games in Cleveland, completing 58.1% of 160 pass attempts for 815 passing yards with two touchdowns and six interceptions. He was benched in favor of rookie Dillon Gabriel ahead of Week 5.”
If a quarterback trade were to be finagled for a team hoping to save its season, the NFL masses believed Cousins would be involved. No cigar.
Cousins to Continue His Bench Role
Cousins isn’t utterly doomed. It’s just that the Bengals represented the most promising opportunity for him, and in theory, if he returned to early 2023 form, Cousins could help Cincinnati with its central mission: staying afloat in the postseason chase until Burrow’s return.
But the Bengals chose Flacco.
Cincinnati reportedly didn’t reach out to the New York Giants about Jameis Winston or Russell Wilson, but those same reports did not mention Cousins. The Falcons’ asking price might’ve remained too high.
In any event, the single best spot for Cousins via trade in 2025 is kaput — unless Flacco tears something in the next 27 days.
A Clock Ticking — 27 Days
Speaking of 27 days, that’s how long Atlanta has to move Cousins in a trade if it’s in the mood in the first place.
The NFL trade deadline is November 4, and the number of deals leaguewide increases annually. Most believe Cousins still harbors the dream of starting again, which is unlikely in Atlanta after the Falcons have fully committed to Michael Penix Jr.
For now, Cousins remains the most expensive backup quarterback in human history, and oddly, the Falcons really don’t take any heat for letting $45 million per season do nothing on the bench.
Most NFL teams would want to get that number off the books — for both practical and optical reasons.
Other Suitors?
Where else might Cousins land? Oofta. The Bengals were really “it.”
The Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers are navigating injuries to Lamar Jackson and Brock Purdy, respectively, but both players have a clear path to return before too long.
Awkwardly, Cousins is basically waiting for another QB1 injury, as morbid as that sounds. If the Los Angeles Rams lost Matthew Stafford, the Detroit Lions lost Jared Goff, or the Pittsburgh Steelers lost Aaron Rodgers, those teams could reasonably consider contacting the Falcons about Cousins’ trade price.
The kicker is the ticking clock. Those injuries would have to arrive within the next four weeks. Otherwise, Cousins would be stuck until the offseason or Atlanta shockingly released him.
Bleacher Report on Cousins
BR’s Adam Wells on Cousins: “Cousins is tricky to move for multiple reasons. The biggest one likely being his contract, which includes a $27.5 million base salary this season and a full no-trade clause. Falcons head coach Raheem Morris benched Penix in a Week 3 loss to the Carolina Panthers after throwing two interceptions.”
“Morris said after the game in no uncertain terms that Penix would remain the starter, but keeping Cousins as an insurance policy may not be a bad strategy for a team that’s trying to compete for a playoff spot. Another factor in all of this is teams don’t usually trade for quarterbacks during the season unless it’s just to add depth to their roster because it can be hard to develop chemistry with the offense and pass-catchers in such a short period of time.”
Cousins has also twisted in the Vikings’ rumor mill just a bit, but Minnesota seems content with J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz, and Max Brosmer.
Wells added, “Among recent examples, the two notable ones were Carson Palmer going to the Oakland Raiders in 2011 and Jimmy Garoppolo being traded to the 49ers in 2017. The NFL trade deadline is exactly one month from today on Nov. 4, so plenty of things can change in the coming weeks.”
“But the lack of activity on these specific quarterbacks at this point suggests there may not be a robust market for players at the position.”
It’s also worth noting that the Vikings should consider pulling off a trade or two; Kwesi Adofo-Mensah typically does so before the deadline.
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