Retaining Kyle Pitts is atop the Atlanta Falcons' list of priorities this offseason, but he's not the only offensive star circling an extension. Because Terry Fontenot is a man who liked to wait until the very last minute to do his job, Ian Cunningham is paying the price in extension talks with Drake London.
Any reasonable front office would have agreed to an extension with London by now, but Fontenot was anything but reasonable. The star wideout's rookie contract will expire next offseason, which has Cunningham scrambling to keep him, but the 24-year-old is coming with an expensive price tag.
The Athletic's Josh Kendall reported that London sees himself as a receiver worth over $30 million per season, while the Falcons are hoping to pay him closer to $25 per year annually. That's a pretty large gap in negotiations, especially after how bad Atlanta's passing game looked while he was hurt.
The USC product is one of the best wideouts in the NFL, but Kendall pointed to the fact that only 10 receivers make over $30 million per year. George Pickens will receive a contract in that same vicinity after his breakout year, so odds are that London wants to cash in as the receiver market progresses.
Drake London and the Falcons are still far apart while negotiating a contract extension
Two other first-round receivers from London's draft class, Garrett Wilson and Jameson Williams, already received extensions, so it's alarming enough that the 2022 first-round pick is still waiting his turn-- especially since all of the Dirty Birds' leverage left the building with Fontenot when he was fired.
If the Falcons let London walk or hit free agency without a new deal in place, it would be a grave mistake. Their WR depth chart behind him is the NFL equivalent of the Bad News Bears, as Darnell Mooney looked horrible in 2025 and every other WR is a practice squad pickup or career journeyman.
London has no Pro Bowls or All-Pro nominations to his name, but nobody's fooled by that. Wilson doesn't either and he was still given a hefty price tag by the New York Jets, so if London wants to be back and isn't requesting Ja'Marr Chase-level money, I don't see a reason for him not to be retained.
Receivers are a major investment, but they also have a longer shelf life than running backs. So if Bijan Robinson is a must-have for Cunningham and Stefanski to bring back, why isn't London? It doesn't make sense because he's better than Brandon Aiyuk and D.K. Metcalf, two of those $30 million men.
Thankfully, Cunningham is far more sensible than his predecessor, so this should be a sign that the gap in extension talks will eventually be bridged.