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.