Heading into the 2025 season, it seemed the Atlanta Falcons had the perfect trio of receivers in Drake London, Darnell Mooney, and Ray-Ray McCloud. Fast forward to Week 16, and only London has been a consistent contributor. McCloud was cut from the team weeks ago for reasons that remain murky. Adding to the frustration at the position is the fact that Mooney simply hasn't shown up as expected. The receiver has only 388 receiving yards despite being set up as the primary or second receiver throughout much of the 2025 season.
London missed extended time with a knee injury and left the door open for Mooney to put aside the struggles and reclaim last year's level of play. Instead, the receiver continued to struggle with drops, showing that there isn't any avoiding the fact that it is time to turn the page. No stat better illustrates Mooney's struggles than the fact that the receiver has caught only 43.5% of his targets this season.
This is an atrocious number pointing to the fact that the pass catcher who had 992 receiving yards in the 2024 season, now appears to be an offseason roster cut. Atlanta owes it to the fan base and whoever the quarterback might be to improve at the position and seek out a receiver capable of offering a level of consistency behind London.
Falcons Have No Choice but to Cut Darnell Mooney After Continual 2025 Struggles
Atlanta has a potential out in Mooney's contract for the 2026 season that would allow the franchise to cut the receiver and incur only an $11 million dead cap penalty. This appears to be the road we are walking, barring a late-season surge from the pass catcher. This seems incredibly unlikely when considering the bulk of the season, Mooney has been on the field and unable to have any consistent positive impact.
There was a level of speculation that Mooney's struggles could be due to Michael Penix Jr. taking over at quarterback. However, Cousins has been reinserted into the lineup, and Mooney's issues with drops and underwhelming production have remained. This answers any last hopes that the receiver might still find a way to contribute to Atlanta's future.
It is time to cut ties and start fresh at the position behind London. The Falcons have lacked depth at receiver for much of the last half-decade and need to remedy this if they have any hope of turning the corner in the 2026 season. A piece of this is not accepting failing players and moving on from a veteran who appeared to be a long-term answer only a season ago.
Regardless of the reasoning behind Mooney's demise, there is no excuse for this level of play. The Falcons must be at the position, and this means cutting Mooney, with it being impossible for Atlanta to do anything but improve after spending the 2025 season with a second receiver incapable of converting even half of his targets.