Could Falcons trade Kirk Cousins to AFC North club before April ends?

ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter recently suggested that either the Minnesota Vikings or Pittsburgh Steelers could trade for Atlanta Falcons backup quarterback Kirk Cousins before or shortly after the 2025 draft wraps up on Saturday. 

For a piece posted on Wednesday morning, Dianna Russini of The Athletic added the Cleveland Browns to the list of possible landing spots for Cousins.

"Minnesota is looked at as the least likely scenario," Russini explained, "given its preference for (2024 first-round draft pick) J.J. McCarthy and that Cousins would need to sign off on any trade he is involved in. It’s believed that Cousins would be against any trade that involves sending him to a situation involving a young QB, similar to the situation he faced in Atlanta last year. If a trade were to happen, I’d expect it to go down on Saturday."

Cousins has a full no-trade clause attached to the contract that he signed less than two full months before the Falcons made quarterback Michael Penix Jr. the eighth overall pick of the 2024 draft. Penix replaced Cousins in the Atlanta lineup for good this past December.

As Russini alluded to, the Vikings want McCarthy to earn the starting job with his performances in springtime workouts coming off the full meniscus repair that sidelined him for all of his rookie season. The Browns already have veteran Joe Flacco in their quarterback room, and they seem eager to give 2022 first-round draft choice Kenny Pickett a chance to win their Week 1 starting job this coming summer. Additionally, NFL Draft analysts and league insiders such as Todd McShay of The Ringer think Cleveland could select a quarterback (such as Colorado's Shedeur Sanders or Alabama's Jalen Milroe) with the first pick of the draft's second round.

Meanwhile, the Steelers ended Wednesday morning as the betting favorites to draft Sanders. It's no secret the Steelers would rather have Aaron Rodgers on the roster over Cousins, but Russini pointed out on Wednesday that sources say "Pittsburgh has not received further updates from the four-time MVP following his 'Pat McAfee Show' appearance last Thursday, in which he said he was 'open to anything and attached to nothing'" regarding the 2025 campaign. 

"The veteran, who turns 37 in August, is due $27.5M in base salary this season, fully guaranteed," Steelers reporter Mike DeFabo of The Athletic wrote about Cousins for a different article posted on Wednesday. "He is also due a $10M roster bonus in 2026, which could make any deal a non-starter for some teams. The only way this scenario seems to make sense is if the Falcons absorb a huge chunk of this year’s guaranteed money, something the team hasn’t appeared willing to do to this point."

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio thinks that it "seems like the best move for the Falcons and for Cousins will be to wait" to see if a team loses a would-be starter to a significant injury at some point between now and the end of training camp, in part because history shows Cousins will "be a good soldier" even though he's not thrilled with his situation in Atlanta. 

Perhaps the Falcons could ultimately decide that releasing Cousins before training-camp practices get underway is what's best for everybody involved, including Penix.