How Falcons veteran offseason acquisitions on offense have fared going into the bye

Through free agency, the Falcons have transformed their offense, even if the results have been a bit uneven.

The Atlanta Falcons are built to nail free agency. After making deep cuts and pinching pennies from 2021-2022, the Falcons opened up the wallet the past two seasons and leaned into Terry Fontenot’s strength as a pro personnel guy to build up the roster. Mostly, the Falcons have accomplished that, and the 2023 class helped to (briefly) transform the face of the defense.

We check in on the draft weekly, and we know that class has played a minor role. This free agent group on offense, however, was expected to be transformative in the here and now as the Falcons pushed their way back into the postseason.

How are this year’s acquisitions faring? The bye week is a logical time to check in, so let’s do so.

QB Kirk Cousins

The Kirk Cousins signing was the centerpiece of the Falcons offseason, and their big signal to the world that they intended to push for a playoff spot right damn now. Even coming off an Achilles injury and entering the age range where quarterbacks decline, Cousins was the best passer on the market, and an on-paper, glove-like fit for the offense Zac Robinson intended to import from his time with the Rams.

Cousins has three really good games, a handful of inspiring drives outside of those, and a lot of so-so play. We knew that Cousins might get off to a slow start given the recovery time for an older quarterback coming back from an Achilles injury, but the surprise hasn’t been that he was sluggish mobility-wise early on—Pittsburgh turned out to be the absolute low-water mark on that front—but that it’s been such a roller coaster since.

Against Tampa Bay twice and Dallas, two of the weaker defenses in football, Cousins has absolutely feasted to the tune of 10 touchdowns and one interception. That bodes well for matchups with the woeful Raiders and Panthers down the stretch. He also had a very good game against the Eagles early in the season, putting together a terrific game-winning drive that showed Cousins is still very capable of a flinty-eyed performance under pressure. He has three game-winning drives for a team that needs those, and that’s already tied for the second-highest total of his entire career. When he’s in a fairly clean pocket and seeing things well, Cousins still looks like one of the better pocket passers in the league, one capable of and willing to utilize the many weapons at his disposal. When he’s asked to run play action, he hasn’t been otherworldly in the way he once was, but he’s been crisp and efficient.

What’s less inspiring is that Cousins has just seven touchdown passes and eight interceptions in his non-Dallas and Tampa Bay games, and that with pressure getting home the last two games, he has a combined two interceptions, three fumbles, and zero touchdowns. He has been prone to hanging in the pocket so long he becomes a sitting duck, which is also why he has 11 fumbles on the year. The turnovers are extremely damaging, but the bigger frustration for me has been the hesitation that’s causing those turnovers. Cousins seems too often loath to throw the ball away in the hopes of making a play happen, but then he’ll launch a ball he has no business throwing for an interception that might have been fine had he waited or looked elsewhere, which is a little baffling. Because he doesn’t move as well as he used to, he can’t mitigate that pressure as effectively, and Cousins remains prone to becoming flustered like Vikings fans told us he could and would be. That can show up in do-or-defeat situations like the panic Ray-Ray McCloud fourth down throw well short of the sticks against New Orleans.

When Cousins has been good and has been kept clean, he’s largely been surgical. The rest of the time, he’s been a bit of an erratic pocket passer with massive mobility issues and a hint of hesitation. Considering he’s been the latter more often than the former in 11 games, the Falcons can’t be totally happy with what they’ve gotten from a man they signed specifically to help them get over the hump in 2024 and 2025.

There’s no Michael Penix talk now, but it’s safe to say Cousins is going to need to play well down the stretch for that not to become a major talking point in the 2025 offseason. We’ve seen him do so for stretches this season, so now it’s time to close out the year on a strong note.

WR Darnell Mooney

While the Falcons are still hoping to get more out of Cousins, they have to be thrilled with what they’ve gotten from Mooney. Outside of a couple of bad drops and a handful of misses where Mooney could have potentially made a grab with a superlative effort, he’s been tremendous for this Falcons offense.

Cousins and others have praised his cerebral approach to the game and his careful study of it, something that shows through in Mooney’s attention to detail on the field and thoughtful interviews off of it. From a pure production standpoint, he’s already got the second-highest receiving yardage total of of his career, the most touchdowns he’s scored in a single season, and his best yards per game number. It’s no wonder Cousins pounded the table to get him here; Mooney’s speed, route running, and approach are helping him win matchups, which is in turn helping the Falcons win games.

Still just 27, Mooney should be good through the life of his contract, and as long as Cousins is under center he’ll be eating well. There were some who questioned whether Mooney could live up to his contract, but I’d argue he’s already done so.

WR Ray-Ray McCloud

Another winner, McCloud has outplayed his contract already. The hard-nosed receiver is winning matchups over the middle of the field and providing value as a returner while serving as the fourth or fifth option in the passing game, depending on the day. He already has career highs in yardage and catches and will have a career-high in receiving touchdowns when he grabs his next one, and while there have been some chaotic moments along the way like drops and penalties, McCloud has been as integral to the offense as Zac Robinson said he would be.

Throw in the fact that he’s averaging 9.3 yards per carry on six totes and is an effective blocker and you have an ideal budget third receiver option for Atlanta; it would be no surprise at all if he returned in 2025 given what he’s been able to do thus far.

TE Charlie Woerner

Another home run signing. Woener offers you very little as a receiver, but he’s behind Drake London, Darnell Mooney, Ray-Ray McCloud, Bijan Robinson, and Kyle Pitts on the pecking order, so that doesn’t matter all that much. The Falcons brought him in to block, and he has been extraordinarily effective at that.

Woerner is Pro Football Focus’s highest-rated tight end in terms of run-blocking and an asset in pass protection, even if that’s not necessarily his forte. The number of times he has delivered an absolutely key block to spring Bijan Robinson or Tyler Allgeier for a significant gain is not a small number, That’s his true value to this team, and paired with a line that excels at run blocking much of the time, Woerner raises both the floor and the ceiling for Robinson and Allgeier by quite a lot. He’s an unsung hero of this offense.

TE Ross Dwelley

The first signing on this list that hasn’t moved the needle at all. I had 49ers fans tell me Dwelley was a fine special teamer and a well-loved teammate but a mediocre blocker and occasionally useful receiver, and thus far that’s exactly what he has been. He just hasn’t received enough usage for the “occasionally useful receiver” part to fit.

The special teams playing time has been there, especially in recent weeks, but Dwelley filled in for an injured Woerner last week and his blocking was as advertised, which was part of the reason the Falcons ground game fizzled out before the team abandoned it. You don’t expect to have to play your third tight end all that often, but I’m always in favor of having a player who can pave the way versus one who might be a decent receiving option. Perhaps the Falcons will need to plug Dwelley into the lineup for Kyle Pitts at some point and he’ll make a clutch catch or two to even things out, but right now, I’d expect him to be one and done in Atlanta. He can’t credibly replace Woerner if his former teammate is hurt.

Verdict: A success, pending the final stretch

Fontenot’s front office has been extremely hit or miss with their draft classes and their trade track record is mixed, but free agency has brought in impact contributors from Cordarrelle Patterson to Jessie Bates every single year, cementing pro personnel as this team’s strength. That should be no surprise given Fontenot’s background in pro personnel.

This free agent class on offense is no exception, as the Falcons absolutely crushed their receiver signings and their blocking tight end acquisition. The fact that Dwelley hasn’t been much of an asset is a blip, given his limited role, and Mooney, Woerner, and McCloud have been huge pieces of Atlanta’s success on offense this season.

All that remains is to see Cousins finish the season on a high note to make this another great class. Improved pass protection in the face of tough pass rushes will help, and certainly I think Zac Robinson can give Cousins more quick, high-percentage looks that aren’t Bijan bailouts or screens. But there’s little question that the supposed crown jewel of this class will have to come up big for a team with very alive playoff hopes and dreams down, or else the familiar and dreaded offseason of quarterback questions will once again be upon us.