Falcons signing Casey Hayward was the steal of free agency

The Atlanta Falcons needed a number two cornerback in the worst way possible. They lacked anyone to compliment A.J. Terrell who was one of the league’s biggest breakout stars a season ago.

It looks as if the Falcons made an extremely underrated signing when they inked Casey Hayward to a two-year deal.

Falcons got a true compliment to Terrell for an extremely reasonable price

The Atlanta Falcons signing Casey Hayward could prove to be the Cordarrelle Patterson signing of this free agency. Hayward has played his whole career being a guy that no one talks about as an elite corner, but he has proven to be such.

While he has gotten some recognition with his two Pro Bowl appearances, it still does not chart how well he has played in the NFL.

A.J. Terrell and Hayward could seriously prove to be a top-five cornerback duo in the entire league.

All of this and the Falcons signed him to a deal that is only worth  $11 million over the course of two years. That is the definition of a steal.

To illustrate how well he has played during his career, let’s look at his Pro Football Focus grades since he entered the league in 2012 with the Green Bay Packers.

The only year that Hayward has posted a grade under 70 overall, was during his last season with the Chargers where he posted a 59.5 grade. That was by far his worst season. Outside of that, he has two seasons with a 90+ overall grade and five seasons with a grade over 80.

Corner is notoriously one of the hardest positions to play in the NFL. They are constantly on an island against some of the best athletes in the world. It is rare to have an elite corner and you can now say that the Atlanta Falcons have two of them. They crushed it with this deal.