Despite limited cap space the Atlanta Falcons should sign Patterson

With NFL free agency only two weeks away the Atlanta Falcons will soon have plenty of competition for signing their breakout star. Cordarrelle Patterson was one of the few aspects of a struggling offense that always seemed to work. The offense couldn’t sustain drives with any consistency dealing with the loss of Julio Jones and the unexpected departure of Calvin Ridley.

The lone bright spot for Atlanta was Cordarrelle Patterson, anytime Patterson touched the ball something great seemed to happen. While Russell Gage and Kyle Pitts had great seasons as well anyone that watched Atlanta knows they didn’t impact the game as consistently as Patterson.

Patterson is a key part of the offense Arthur Smith is building and not a player that the team needs to lose in free agency. Atlanta must find ways to bring in playmakers this off-season and losing their best shouldn’t be an option.

Cordarrelle Patterson deserves market value and the Atlanta Falcons shouldn’t hesitate to give it to him early in free agency

Atlanta is in a bad cap situation due to re-structuring Matt Ryan’s contract to the point his cap hit this season nears $50-million and several seasons of bad decisions. Their hesitation to sign a player after a career season is understandable.

Still, Atlanta must find a way to keep Patterson in Atlanta, Cordarrelle has been vocal about wanting to be with the Falcons and Atlanta badly needs his skill set. Signing Patterson and working on acquiring a receiver and running back in the draft or in the bargain aisle in free agency should be Atlanta’s goal at this point.

As much as they need a top receiver their cap situation may demand they use the draft to address the position. It will be unclear whether or not Atlanta can chase both Patterson and a top receiver until cap casualties and restructured contracts give us the full picture. Regardless, Atlanta needs to make the right move and bring back Patterson for a team that is sitting in a wide-open division.