FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons traded quarterback Desmond Ridder to the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday for wide receiver Rondale Moore.
Ridder, a former third-round pick who had a storied career at Cincinnati, started committing turnovers an alarming rate last season. He finished with 12 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions and 12 fumbles (seven lost) and was benched twice in favor of Taylor Heinicke.
He will compete to back up quarterback Kyler Murray for the Cardinals.
Moore, who’s 5-foot-7 and 180 pounds and turns 24 in June, was drafted in the second round (48th overall) out of Purdue in 2021.
He has played in 39 games for the Cardinals and made 21 starts. He has caught 135 of 182 targets for 1,201 yards and three touchdowns.
Moore ran the 40-yard dash in 4.28 seconds at the 2021 NFL Scouting Combine, but the speed has not translated into a lot of big plays in the NFL.
Things got off to a fabulous start last season for Ridder with victories over Carolina and Green Bay to open the season before they went sideways.
Former coach Arthur Smith just wanted Ridder to manage games and get the ball to the weapons on the offense, but that was too tall of a task for him. The Falcons ended up playing musical chairs at the quarterback position, going back and forth between Ridder and Heinicke.
When Heinicke, who played at Collins Hill High School, sustained an ankle injury, Ridder found out 90 minutes before kickoff that he would start the regular-season finale. He was fine for a half, but three plays into the third quarter he tossed an interception that ignited a 31-0 run by the Saints.
Ridder posted a 6-7 record as a starter last season. He completed 249 of 388 passes (64.2%) for 2,832 yards, 12 touchdowns to go with the 12 interceptions. He finished with passer rating of 83.4.
The offense, which averaged 334.3 yards per game and ranked 17th of 32 teams in the NFL, never flourished consistently. The passing attack averaged 207.3 yards per game, which ranked 22nd in the league.
Ridder had his best game in a showdown with Houston’s C.J. Stroud, a 21-19 victory for the Falcons on Oct. 8. Heinicke also led the Falcons to a 29-10 victory over the Colts on Dec. 24.
Ridder handled the situations of moving in and out of the lineup well. He was first benched in the eighth game of the season at halftime against Tennessee. Heinicke started the next two games.
After the bye week, Ridder was reinstated as the starter and went 2-2. After losses to the Bucs and Panthers, he was benched again.
Ridder tried to just keep playing through the ups and downs of the season.
Heinicke was 1-3 as a starter.
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