The Falcons are hitting reset on their receiver depth chart by cutting Mooney, who was plagued by injuries and drops in 2025.
The Atlanta Falcons are going to have a drastically different wide receiver depth chart in 2026. The team already cut ties with KhaDarel Hodge, and now they’re reportedly about to cut Darnell Mooney loose as well.
NFL insider Ian Rapoport is among those who say the team is planning to release Mooney after a disappointing, injury-marred 2025 season. That release will leave Drake London as the only established high-end receiver left, making it a virtual certainty Atlanta will be active in both free agency and the draft to improve the roster.
Mooney’s ballooning cap hit in 2026 always made it likely he’d be a cap casualty, but he was supposed to help lift the Falcons to the playoffs in 2024 and 2025. Instead, he turned in a great season in a doomed year with Kirk Cousins’ fade and the defensive collapse in 2024, with 64 receptions for 992 yards and five touchdowns. He followed that up by breaking his collarbone in the summer of 2025—something the team hid—and battling various ailments, rust, and simple ineffectiveness as he managed just 32 receptions for 443 yards and a touchdown last season. Like many of Atlanta’s moves over the past two seasons, this one didn’t work out. Given his brilliant 2024 and the team’s mismanagement of his injury, it’s easy and fair to blame the Falcons more than the player for that outcome.
If he’s fully healthy, it goes without saying that Mooney will land a nice deal elsewhere and has a chance to thrive again. He’s a big-time deep threat when he’s rolling and will be 29 this year, and some team is likely to hand him a solid short-term deal to see if he can regain his 2024 form and be a high-end WR2. I wouldn’t bet against him, personally.
It’s not yet clear whether the Falcons will designate Mooney as a post-June 1 cut, allowing them to spread out their dead money more evenly, or will take a bigger hit this year to be done with it. If they elect to cut him without that designation, Mooney will carry $11 million in dead money against the cap and will give the Falcons about $7.4 million in savings; if it’s post-June 1, that will be $6.5 million in dead money and $11.9 million in savings.
Because of a 2025 restructure of Mooney’s deal and void years added on the end of it, the Falcons will either be eating $4.5 million in dead money in 2027 or $1.5 million for three years from 2027-2029. Thanks, departing front office!
With Mooney gone, the Falcons have some big decisions to make at receiver; the franchise tag on Kyle Pitts takes care of one major target but Atlanta can’t go into the year with the cupboard this bare. London is fantastic and Casey Washington might be able to contribute as a high-end reserve in a new offense, but that’s about all Atlanta has. We wish Mooney well wherever he lands, and hope the Falcons receiver depth chart in 2026 will be an asset rather than a liability.
Category: General Sports
