The last time the Atlanta Falcons had a player fall off as much as Darnell Mooney did in 2025, I was in middle school. That was when Vic Beasley went from one of the brightest young pass-rushers in football to a one-trick pony who couldn't even make his mark in the UFL. Let that sink in for a second.
The 28-year-old went from nearly a 1,00-yard receiver in 2024 to a shell of himself this season. Raheem Morris is also to blame for downplaying the true nature of his injuries and allowing him to play through a broken collarbone, but it also might have just put the nail in the coffin on his Falcons' career... or so we thought.
The Dirty Birds have an entire new crop of decision-makers. coming in, as Matt Ryan, Kevin Stefanski, and new GM Ian Cunningham are calling the shots. One of their first moves could be to cut Mooney loose to save money, but his ties to Cunningham have me thinking that this is no longer guaranteed.
Ian Cunningham might have given Darnell Mooney's Falcons career the saving grace it needed
The 40-year-old executive spent the last four seasons spearheading the Bears' rebuild alongside Ryan Poles, which is where their paths crossed. Mooney was still playing for Da Bears during the start of Cunningham's time as assistant GM there, so there's definitely a relationship of sorts there.
The Tulane product had a 1,000-yard season in 2021, but didn't crack 500 in either of the seasons afterward, so they let him walk in 2024 free agency. That's how he landed in Atlanta, but that contract has started to age significantly worse with time, just like several other moves Terry Fontenot made.
The 2020 fifth-round pick is still a serviceable starting receiver, but makes too much money to be this unreliable. It's why the Falcons are kicking the tires on adding other receivers this offseason, since his $10.97 million base salary and $18 million cap hit in 2026 are both incredibly pricey in all honesty.
His contract comes with an out that would only come with $11 million in dead cap, so he's not as guaranteed to be gone as someone like Kirk Cousins. He definitely deserves another season to see if he can bounce back before letting him walk, but Cunningham should still add insurance at receiver.
Mooney was once dubbed the perfect complement to Drake London, and still could be that when healthy, but he never is. The decision felt obvious, but now that Cunningham changed his area code like his former receiver, he at least has a chance to stick around in Atlanta for another season.