Before the 2025 NFL Draft, the last update Atlanta Falcons fans got on a potential Kirk Cousins trade was that he was going to wait to waive his no-trade clause until after the draft to avoid being in a situation where he lands with a team that uses a high draft pick on a rookie quarterback again.
Now that the dust has settled on the draft, draft analyst at Sportskeeda.com Tony Pauline joined The Morning Shift and told Mike, Beau, and Ali Mac why the Falcons trading Cousins to their division rival isn’t out of the question.
“You have to watch and see what happens with New Orleans, and the fact is would Atlanta trade Kirk Cousins to a division rival, and as I said in the article last week whichever team is willing to absorb the majority of the salary due to Kirk Cousins this year, which I believe is $27 million, that’s probably where he’s gonna be traded," Pauline said. "So depending on what happens with Derek Carr I wouldn’t discount New Orleans.”
The article Pauline is referring to is the one he published last Thursday right before the draft where he said he feels like the Falcons would trade their veteran backup quarterback to the team that is “willing to shoulder the highest burden of the $27 million he’s due this season,” even if the division rival Saints are that team.
Derek Carr’s 2025-26 playing status remains up in the air as he continues to deal with a shoulder injury. After the draft, the Saints’ quarterback room behind Carr consists of Spencer Rattler, Jake Haener, and newly drafted Saints quarterback Tyler Shough out of Louisville, so if Carr can’t play this season for the Saints then it would be very interesting to see if New Orleans is desperate enough to meet the Falcons’ asking price for Cousins, and if that answer is yes there’s a good chance Kirk could be a Saint this upcoming season.