Why Atlanta Falcons should have zero interest in adding Brandon Aiyuk

The Atlanta Falcons have been a suggested landing spot for Brandon Aiyuk. This is on the heels of Aiyuk requesting a trade from the 49ers. It was inevitable San Francisco would lose at least one key piece with such a star-studded roster.

Aiyuk wants to be paid and San Francisco has little reason to approach the situation with urgency. You have better weapons ahead of the receiver and more impactful players you will need to fit under the salary cap. Paying Aiyuk now would be a mistake for a team who in truth, doesn't need the receiver to win.

This brings us to the idea of Atlanta adding Aiyuk to what is already an exciting offense. It would give Atlanta a trio of Drake London, Darnell Mooney, and Aiyuk at the receiver position. Add in Kyle Pitts, Bijan Robinson, and Tyler Allgeier the skill positions are as deep and as talented as any team in the league.

With that said, however, there should be zero interest from Atlanta's front office in bringing Aiyuk to Atlanta. The first and most obvious issue is the fact that the receiver wants to leave San Francisco to get paid.

Why would you bring in a player to pay when you will need to extend Pitts, London, and Robinson over the next three years? Paying Aiyuk limits your ability down the road to keep younger weapons you drafted. Atlanta can open up the cap space to make the move but the reasons they should avoid doing so are obvious.

Aside from having other weapons to pay down the road you have more pressing concerns. If you're going to spend resources and create cap space it cannot be for another weapon. Atlanta's pass rush and secondary both are far more pressing concerns.

Atlanta's focus should be improving the pass rush not adding another weapon

Consider Atlanta's current pass-rushing options and what the corner position looks like after A.J. Terrell. If the team is going to create cap space and spend draft picks it should be in an attempt to fix these positions.

Yes, Aiyuk as a part of this offense is fun to consider. It makes your offense deeper and gives you the chance for more explosive plays. Atlanta does get better in making this move but not in ways that are going to improve their playoff ceiling.

Kirk Cousins isn't going to be the best quarterback in the playoff bracket. Propping the quarterback up with an elite group of weapons makes sense on its face. When you look a bit closer at Atlanta's roster, however, it becomes clear this will matter very little if they cannot address the pass rush.

Any resources Atlanta spends between now and week one should be in an attempt to make the defense better. The lack of pass rush and secondary questions are what will hold Atlanta back in the 2024 season not the lack of another great offensive weapon.