Kirk Cousins DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

There are a ton of moving parts with Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins' situation this offseason, but SI.com's Albert Breer writes that Cousins could waive is no-trade clause after April's NFL draft. Breer believes Cousins wants to avoid the situation he found himself in with the Falcons last year when he was blind-sided by the Falcons' decision to select Michael Penix Jr. in the first round. Before accepting any potential trade, the 36-year-old veteran has signaled to interested teams that he wants to wait until after the draft to pick his new team. Breer has heard that Cousins' camp would be amenable to working out the particulars of a trade before the draft on the contingency that a team willing to trade for him wouldn't take a QB in the first round. The Falcons are willing to make Cousins the highest-paid backup in the league, but a trade still seems more likely to happen. The Browns are the most probably landing spot.

A league source told Josina Anderson that both Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins and Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis came up in recent preliminary trade inquiries or internal discussions. "Atlanta has been getting calls," the league source said, while also saying, "the Titans would like to transition." The Falcons continue to say they're willing to pay Cousins top money to serve as their backup in 2025, and they even kept him past last Saturday's $10 million guarantee deadline. However, Cousins doesn't want to be a backup, and Atlanta could give in if they get the right return, although they'd probably have to eat some money, too. The Titans are clearly ready to move on from Levis, who was benched last year, but it remains to be seen what kind of trade market he'd even have. It's looking a lot more likely that the Titans may hang onto the No. 1 overall pick and take Miami QB Cam Ward.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins will remain on the roster on Saturday past 4 p.m. ET, solidifying his $10 million roster bonus for March of 2026. Pelissero also notes that if Cousins is eventually traded or released, Atlanta's obligation is subject to offsets. Cousins started 14 games for the Falcons in 2024, though he woefully underperformed, racking up an 18:16 TD:INT ratio before getting benched for rookie signal-caller Michael Penix Jr. in Week 16. It's a strange move for the team, as it would seemingly behoove them more to trade the 36-year-old, especially considering he's made it clear that he prefers to start rather than ride the bench. With that said, you can't fault Atlanta, as Cousins would be one of the more competent backups in the league.