The Atlanta Falcons had no real need for quarterback Desmond Ridder after signing Pro Bowler Kirk Cousins earlier in NFL free agency.
It’s in this that Atlanta has traded the young quarterback to the Arizona Cardinals. In exchange, the Falcons get another target for Cousins in the passing game in that of wide receiver Rondale Moore.
Per NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, this is a rare player-for-player trade with no draft picks involved. That just doesn’t happen around the NFL world.
There are certainly a lot of layers to this trade.
First off, Atlanta had signed wide receiver Darnell Mooney away from the Chicago Bears in free agency. Adding Moore to the mix gives him another wide receiver.
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Moore, 23, is a former second-round pick of the Cardinals out of Purdue. He caught 40 passes for 352 yards a season ago. Moore’s best season came back when he was a rookie in 2021 with the 5-foot-7 pass-catcher hauling in 54 receptions for 435 yards while catching 84% of his targets.
As for the Cardinals, they add the 24-year-old Ridder as Kyler Murray’s backup. His two-year stint with the Atlanta Falcons did not go swimmingly after they made the Cincinnati product a third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. That included Ridder throwing a mere 14 touchdowns against 12 interceptions in 17 career starts.
It appears that both youngsters could use a change of scenery. They get it in this one-for-one swap.