The Atlanta Falcons essentially started early free agency off on Monday with the unsurprising move of reaching a deal with former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. They then followed that up with providing the veteran quarterback with a little more help in wide receiver Darnell Mooney.
Mooney and the Falcons agreed to terms on a three-year, $39 million deal, with $26 million guaranteed, according to NFL Network. The Falcons were down to just Drake London, with Mack Hollins, Van Jefferson, Scotty Miller, and Khadarel Hodge all hitting free agency. Hollins, in fact, has already agreed to terms with the Buffalo Bills.
The Falcons certainly have to do more than just sign Mooney, but it’s a solid start in rebuilding the wide receiver room and giving Cousins another weapon. Mooney is likely to be the WR2, with London being WR1.
Some may be fairly unaware of Mooney. The former wide receiver for the Chicago Bears, firstly, is coming off his worst season in his young, four-year career. He missed two games, caught 31 balls on 61 targets for 414 yards, and only one touchdown. However, he was a 1,000-yard receiver back in 2021, playing in all 17 games, with 81 receptions on 140 targets and five total touchdowns.
The Bears have never been a team known for either their wide receiver or quarterback play. Mooney definitely falls victim to that, especially being that the quarterback play in Chicago has been wildly inconsistent since he arrived in 2020, having been thrown to from over half a dozen signal callers.
Mooney is hoping that all changes in Atlanta, where he’ll not only be surrounded by a veteran quarterback who will likely get him the ball on frequent occasions, but also a stacked offense of skill players around him. So, did the Falcons make a good move here? Let’s grade it.
Grading Darnell Mooney’s deal with the Falcons
The Falcons look to be shoring up most of their offensive needs through free agency, which seemed evident with Cousins and now Mooney. That’s not saying that Atlanta still won’t seek out other wide receiver options in the 2024 NFL Draft. In fact, they probably should. But do they grab another receiver in the first round or wait for the second or even later to help build back their receiver room?
Either way, Mooney is a welcomed addition and seems worthy of the WR2 position that he will likely take hold of. The real question is he worth the three years and $39 million the Falcons are paying him?
That will obviously remain to be seen, however, there are some concerns to look at. It starts obviously with his production, where he has failed to eclipse 500 yards or more over the last two seasons, and a total of just three touchdowns. That can be accounted for possibly two reasons.
One, that’s when Justin Fields took over as quarterback for the Bears. The two seasons before, Mooney accounted for over 1600 reception yards and eight touchdowns. And two, over the last two seasons, Mooney has missed a total of seven games with various injuries.
From a production standpoint alone, Mooney is overpaid, but we’ve also likely not seen the best of what this 24-year-old receiver has to offer. Throughout his entire rookie contract, he was on a Bears team that consistently ranked dead last in the league in passing yards, according to PFF. Not to mention, on deep targets, nearly 40 percent were inaccurate, according to Warren Sharp.
The Falcons did fill a much-needed void with Mooney. With his signing, they also gave themselves some draft flexibility to take the best player available once it turns to their No. 8 overall pick. The price is the only real issue here, which could end up being a non-factor if he becomes as productive as they hope he can be.
Grade: B
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