Three players the Falcons could replace Calvin Ridley with

Someone the Falcons are already aware of, having brought him in for a work-out in the middle of September. John Brown made his name with the Cardinals and put together a 1003 yard season in 2015. A subdued couple of years following that 2015 season led to his release, and a disappointing 2018 with Baltimore saw him end up with the Bills, where he managed 1060 yards in 2019. He, again, followed up his excellent 2019  with a disappointing 2020 and has bounced between the Raiders and Broncos in 2021, without making the field.

The key with Brown is his speed. John Brown is a speedy, speedy receiver, and hasn’t lost a step since he joined the league. He’s also reliable. Despite his poor regular season, Brown was leaned on heavily in the Bills 2020 divisional playoff win over the Titans, receiving 8 targets to the tune of 62 yards.

Brown represents an experienced upgrade over every remaining receiver on the Falcons roster. He’s the sort of player that Falcons could plugin immediately and get some value from. He also offers something no one else seems to, and that is that he’s a viable, legitimate deep threat. Brown has the speed to beat corners over the top, and would be someone opposition defenses would have to account for. That should help the likes of Gage, Zacchaeus, and Sharpe over the middle.

The reality is that the Falcons simply cannot afford to be picky right now. With a pretty horrible cap situation looming over the team, both in the short and longer terms, Brown would be unlikely to count a huge amount against the cap, while offering a good amount of production. He’d be a cost-effective choice, but a solid one nevertheless.