Report: Falcons Expected To Trade Desmond Ridder

The Atlanta Falcons have signed Kirk Cousins, putting an end to Desmond Ridder’s short—but disastrous—tenure as the team’s starting quarterback.

Now, the Falcons are looking to trade Ridder and have already held discussions with other clubs, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Schefter adds nothing is in place just yet.

Ridder, who played his collegiate football at the University of Cincinnati, was selected by Atlanta in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

The 24-year-old made four starts during his rookie campaign, throwing for 708 yards and a couple of touchdowns while completing 63.5 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 86.4.

Then, this past season, Ridder went on a roller-coaster ride.

He opened the year as the Falcons’ starting signal-caller and held the position through Week 8, when he exited Atlanta’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings with a head injury.

Ridder was then benched in favor of Taylor Heinicke, who started Week 9 before suffering an injury himself the next game. Ridder then won his starting job back before losing it again toward the end of the season.

Overall, Ridder played in 15 contests and made 13 starts, totaling 2,836 yards, 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while completing 64.2 percent of his throws and registering a passer rating of 83.4.

Perhaps a change of scenery would do Ridder some good, or maybe he really is just nothing more than a backup quarterback on the NFL level.

It’s hard to imagine he will have a whole lot of trade value, but he is still young, and a team that has some uncertainty in its quarterback room may want to take a chance on him.

We’ll see what becomes of Desmond Ridder in the coming days or weeks.