Falcons: Who will be this year’s “Cordarrelle Patterson signing?”

Last year when the Falcons signed Cordarrelle Patterson, everyone saw it as an impact signing for the special teams, no one could have predicted that he would be such an important piece to the offense.

When he was missing from the offense, it was obvious, nothing shows that more than when Atlanta was shut out by New England when Patterson was out with an injury.

Which free-agent signing for the Falcons will have a bigger impact than expected?

The Atlanta Falcons are going to need their free-agent signings to perform in order for them to win games, so let’s look at some players who will potentially outplay their contracts.

The first one most people will look at is Marcus Mariota as he is a former second-overall pick, who the team signed to a modest contract. Mariota is the easy answer as he will likely be the starting quarterback.

The other easy answer would be Casey Hayward as Terry Fontenot was able to steal him. He is a former Pro Bowl corner and has been one of the most consistent corners in the league over the past decade.

However, if we are looking at signings that could be overlooked, there are two that stick out—Auden Tate and Lorenzo Carter. Both of these players, much like was the case with Patterson, were signed to one-year contracts to prove themselves.

Starting off with the receiver, Auden Tate, what really sticks out with him is how physically gifted he is as he stands at six-foot-five. He should prove to be a big part of this extremely tall group of receivers for Atlanta.

While he never had the greatest production during his time with the Bengals, you also have to consider that he had to play behind guys like A.J. Green, Tee Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tyler Boyd, that is a lot of talent to compete with and certainly, he will have a better opportunity in Atlanta’s offense.

Now let’s look at the pass rusher, Lorenzo Carter, who much like Tate, has all the talent in the world. He may be familiar to some Falcons fans as he played at Georgia and was a third-round pick by the New York Giants in 2018.

Carter is also six-foot-five and runs a 4.5 forty-yard dash. He struggled for much of the season last year but he was able to put up four straight games with a sack to end the year. Perhaps he will take that strong momentum into the 2022 season.

These are the four players that could prove to be value signings for Atlanta, but seriously keep an eye out for Lorenzo Carter, he could quickly become the Falcons best edge rusher, if he isn’t already.