Report: Falcons' Kirk Cousins Likely to Wait Until After NFL Draft to Accept a Trade

Kirk Cousins may want a full picture of the NFL's landscape before he signs off on a trade from the Atlanta Falcons, according to The MMQB's Albert Breer.

Breer reported Monday the four-time Pro Bowler "has already signaled to teams that he would likely want to wait to see what happens over draft weekend before accepting a trade."

Cousins wants to avoid a repeat of last offseason, when Atlanta gave him a four-year, $180 million contract but then wasted no time in finding his successor by using a first-round pick on Michael Penix Jr.

Breer said there's a possible downside to the 36-year-old's approach because a prospective suitor could be interested now, only to take a quarterback in the draft.

Not to mention, the Falcons could simply decide to keep Cousins when dealing him before June 1 would mean absorbing a $37.5 million dead money hit for 2025.

According to Breer, one solution could see Cousins basically have a handshake deal with another team prior to that draft. The trade specifics would worked out prior to the event and refrain from selecting a quarterback in the first round.

At this point, holding off until the draft concludes to make a final decision on a trade is probably Cousins' best move. The market shouldn't constrict too much when this year's draft doesn't have a robust QB class.

Miami's Cam Ward and Colorado's Shedeur Sanders are the only two quarterbacks in the top 50 of Bleacher Report's 2025 big board. Ohio State's Will Howard and Ole Miss' Jaxson Dart were the other two to crack the top 75.

A lot of the teams chasing Cousins now are likely to have a short-term need for a quarterback once the draft is over.