The QB carousel in the NFL never seems to stop. Let's look at three notable passers who could get traded during 2025.
Many teams in the NFL are just dying for even competent QB play, so the teams that have high-end passers are honestly lucky to a degree. It truly seems like even in today's age, teams still aren't aggressive enough in trying to find a franchise QB.
Honestly, front offices need to take swings every single year in the NFL Draft until they finally draft a franchise QB. Well, beyond that,, there could be a handful of notable names at the position who could be on the move during the 2025 NFL Season.
Let's talk about them right here.
3 notable quarterbacks who could be on the move during the 2025 season
Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons
The Kirk Cousins' situation is quite interesting. At this point, the Atlanta Falcons really do not have much of an avenue to trade Cousins, and cutting him would be a financial disaster. Falcons GM Terry Fontenot has to just hold out hope that another team is going to end up having a need for Cousins at some point before the trade deadline.
If not, the veteran QB might be stuck with the Falcons as a backup, but I guess if second-year QB Michael Penix Jr plays poorly, Cousins could always get inserted back into the lineup. He and the Falcons began the 2024 NFL Season with a bang, and it seemed like they were going to runaway with the NFC South, but the former Vikings quarterback declined in real-time and left Atlanta with no choice but to put Penix in.
It's hard to say at the moment which team would come calling for Kirk Cousins, but there is always a chance that he and the Falcons are able to find a viable destination during the 2025 NFL Season.
Anthony Richardson, Indianapolis Colts
Anthony Richardson was a bad collegiate QB and a bad NFL Draft prospect. He was absolutely over-drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2023 NFL Draft and has battled injuries during his short career thus far. Richardson has honestly been a horrifically bad QB, and there just does not seem like much of a chance that he hits his stride in 2025.
Furthermore, he's hurt again, so that does give free agent addition Daniel Jones a chance to runaway with the starting job. Jones is also terrible, but he's less terrible than Richardson is. The Colts also drafted Riley Leonard in the 2025 NFL Draft, and at the moment, it seems like a viable scenario could present itself where Jones and Leonard end up locking-down the top two QB spots while Richardson is on the mend.
This could be even more true if the Colts front office realize that the third-year QB has a trade market.
And trading Anthony Richardson would obviously also be a "yeah, we know we messed up" admission from GM Chris Ballard. Heck, could Indy swing a trade for Kirk Cousins at some point? Maybe a swap of Richardson for Cousins and a pick could be appealing to both parties?
Jameis Winston, New York Giants
It seemed like the New York Giants panicked a bit when they signed both Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston. They also took Jaxson Dart in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Not only did they bring those QBs into the mix, but Tommy DeVito is still a thing as well.
It just does not make a ton of sense for the G-Men to keep both Wilson and Winston on the roster during the season. Even if the Giants play on red-shirting Dart, that could be done quite easily with him, DeVito, and Wilson in the picture.
Joe Schoen has been a disastrous GM thus far and really seemed to overcompensate with this position. He's dealing with the fallout of whiffing on the Daniel Jones extension, and you get the sense that the Giants have to field a winning team this year.
Perhaps in that case, the Giants could shop Jameis Winston for a player in return who could at least come in and help the team win now. With the hardest schedule in the NFL, I personally do not envision the Giants winning more than a handful of games, but I guess you never know.