In trading away their former starting quarterback, the Atlanta Falcons also upgraded their receiver room.
A day after signing Kirk Cousins to be the team’s new starting quarterback, the Falcons sent former starter Desmond Ridder to Arizona for receiver Rondale Moore, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Thursday.
Ridder gets a new start in Arizona, potentially as the backup to Kyler Murray. Arizona already has Clayton Tune on the roster. He had just one start last season, the week before Murray returned.
Ridder, a third-round pick by Atlanta in 2022, started 17 career games, completing 64% of his passes with 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions between the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
After being named the full-time starter prior to the 2023 season, Ridder was benched twice by former head coach Arthur Smith, in part because of his decision-making and issues with ball security — he had 12 fumbles along with 12 interceptions last season. After the season, team owner Arthur Blank called his team’s quarterback play “deficient,” and made it clear the team would be looking for a new starting quarterback, which ended up being Cousins.
The Falcons now have Cousins and Taylor Heinicke on the roster as the team’s quarterbacks.
Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders are trading quarterback Sam Howell to the Seattle Seahawks in a pick swap, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Seahawks will receive Howell, a fourth-round pick (No. 102) and a sixth-round selection (No. 179) in exchange for a third-round pick (No. 78) and a fifth-rounder (No. 152), the sources told Schefter.
Howell, who was the Commanders’ starting quarterback last season, gives the Seahawks a new quarterback to compete with Geno Smith. Drew Lock, who backed up Smith the past two seasons, agreed to a contract with the New York Giants.
The Commanders have the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft and are expected to select a quarterback with it.
Washington signed veteran quarterback Marcus Mariota this week to serve as the likely backup.