Atlanta Falcons

Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral will rack up the frequent flyer miles next week as he's reportedly scheduled to visit with five teams ahead of the 2022 NFL draft.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Friday that Corral is slated for meetings with the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers.

In a year without a consensus No. 1 quarterback prospect, interviews could play an important role in determining the order the top QBs come off the board when the draft gets underway April 28 in Las Vegas.

Corral is in a competition with Liberty's Malik Willis, Pitt's Kenny Pickett and Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder to become the first QB selected.

The 23-year-old California native spent four years with the Rebels, including the past two seasons as the team's starting quarterback. He completed 67.3 percent of his throws for 8,287 yards with 57 touchdowns and 23 interceptions in 37 games. He also rushed for 1,357 yards and 18 scores.

While his natural playmaking ability was evident at Ole Miss, there are questions about how he'll handle more complex NFL defensive schemes.

Bleacher Report's Nate Tice described Corral as a "single-read QB at this point in time" in his predraft scouting report.

"Played in an offensive system that heavily featured run-pass options and easier progressions," Tice wrote. "His ability to progress on true dropback concepts will be a question mark until proven otherwise."

That said, in a class where every quarterback has question marks, a coaching staff may see Corral's upside and take a chance on the 2021 All-SEC second team selection under the belief it can help him develop that aspect of his game.

None of his visits next week qualify as a surprise. All five of the teams mentioned have been heavily linked to the quarterback market, including the Eagles despite having Jalen Hurts on their roster.

The Panthers (No. 6 pick) and Falcons (No. 8) have the highest selections from the group, so a strong performance in those meetings could push Corral into the top-10 conversation.

Even if that doesn't come to fruition, the signal-caller should land somewhere in the opening round. He may be destined for a development year behind the likes of Jameis Winston with the Saints or Mitchell Trubisky with the Steelers, though.

That type of outcome could actually improve Corral's long-term outlook, since he won't be under pressure to perform right away.

The Atlanta Falcons announced they agreed to a two-year contract with free-agent quarterback Marcus Mariota on Monday.

Mariota's deal will be worth $18.75 million, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

This comes after NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported the Falcons traded Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts for a 2022 third-round draft pick on the same day.

The 28-year-old Mariota spent the past two seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders, serving as the backup to starting quarterback Derek Carr.

Mariota is best known for his highly productive collegiate career at Oregon, which yielded a Heisman Trophy and led to him being the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft by the Tennessee Titans.

Up-and-down performances plagued Mariota during his five seasons in Tennessee, as he went 29-32 as a starter and completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 13,207 yards, 76 touchdowns and 44 interceptions while also rushing for 1,399 yards and 11 scores.

Mariota led the Titans to the playoffs in 2017 and even won a postseason game. But when Tennessee returned to the playoffs two years later, Ryan Tannehill had supplanted him as the starter.

With Tannehill taking Tennessee all the way to the AFC Championship Game, the Titans committed to him and allowed Mariota to leave in free agency.

Mariota signed with the Raiders in hopes of competing with Carr for the starting job, but he appeared in only one game in 2020 and didn't make any starts.

He was a more consistent part of the offense in 2021, but primarily in short-yardage situations as a runner. Mariota appeared in 10 games, attempted only two passes and rushed 13 times for 87 yards and a touchdown.

With Mariota getting few opportunities to show what he could truly do as a quarterback in Vegas, it made sense for him to test the free-agent market again.

In Mariota, the Falcons are getting a dual-threat quarterback with a decent amount of starting experience who could reemerge as a quality starter after spending most of the previous three years as a backup.

Calvin Ridley was reportedly close to joining the Philadelphia Eagles. 

The Falcons nearly traded the wide receiver to the Eagles this offseason before talks halted when Atlanta realized he would be suspended for the 2022 season for gambling on NFL games, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports said on the Takeoff with John Clark podcast (h/t Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia):

It was actually funny because they were one of the teams, they were close to a deal with Atlanta for Calvin Ridley and Atlanta backed out at the last second. And Philly was like, 'What's going on?' They couldn't really tell them. So Philly wasn't too happy and then after, looked at it like, 'Alright, Atlanta, thanks.' Atlanta did business the right way. They weren't allowed to say anything, again, the legalities of it, couldn't say a word. They just had to pull out. 

But, man, if Philly could have gotten a talent like Calvin Ridley when he didn't have these issues, that would have been good for them. Again, they're aggressive. Howie (Roseman) is always really aggressive. That would have been big, especially with a lot of Alabama guys. That would have been a good one had he not had the issues, but he did. So Atlanta just had to pull out and couldn't tell them for a couple weeks why.”

The Eagles thought the Falcons had received a better offer for Ridley, per Glazer, though it's unclear what Philadelphia would've given up to land the 2018 first-round pick. However, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said on 92.9 The Game's Dukes and Bell that Atlanta's asking price included a first-round pick.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday that a few teams reached out to Atlanta about trading for Ridley, but the Falcons declined discussions because they knew he was under investigation.

The NFL announced Monday that Ridley would be suspended for the 2022 season after it concluded he bet on games during a five-day period in November while he was away from the team to focus on his mental health.

The 27-year-old can appeal the suspension, but it's unclear if he plans to do so. If he appeals and the decision is upheld, he can't apply for reinstatement until Feb. 15, 2023.

In addition to the Eagles, Ridley was drawing interest from the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns, according to Boardroom's Jordan Schultz. If not for his suspension, Ridley likely would have been on a new team in 2022.

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported in January that the Falcons and Ridley "could be looking for a fresh start" ahead of the 2022 campaign. His prediction was that the Alabama product had played his final game for Atlanta.

Ridley has been one of Matt Ryan's go-to receivers since his arrival in Atlanta in 2018. In 49 games, he has caught 248 passes for 3,342 yards and 28 touchdowns. 

Now that he'll be off the field for a year, it's unclear what the future holds for Ridley, who might've landed a significant contract extension entering the final season of his rookie deal in 2022.

After enjoying the best season of his career, free-agent playmaker Cordarrelle Patterson isn't looking to go anywhere.

Patterson told ESPN's Michael Rothstein he not only wants to re-sign with the Atlanta Falcons but that he could also envision retiring with the franchise.

"Atlanta feels like home, so why not retire here and end my career here," he said. "It feels good. It feels like it's the right place, but at the end of the day, I've got to do what's best for me and my family, you know, and if Atlanta is not that place, then it's not that place."

While Patterson failed to make the Pro Bowl team or earn All-Pro honors—something he did in 2019 and 2020—the 2021 campaign was arguably a high-water mark for the 30-year-old.

He carried the ball 153 times for 618 yards and six touchdowns after having run for 1,017 yards and eight scores between 2013 and 2020. He was Atlanta's leading rusher.

Patterson also caught 52 passes for 548 yards and five touchdowns, matching or besting his previous highs in all three categories. He told Rothstein the Falcons "spoiled me" with how they involved him in the offense.

The benefits of that are likely to be seen this offseason.

Even though he had established himself as a premier return man, Patterson settled for a one-year, $3 million deal with the Falcons last spring. Now, he's poised to earn a relatively sizable raise and potentially some long-term security.

Pro Football Focus projected him to get $12 million over two years. That would be his highest annual salary ever.

Because of how well he fit into first-year head coach Arthur Smith's offense, one would presume Atlanta is looking to re-sign Patterson. 

"From our standpoint, we'd love to have [CP] back," team owner Arthur Blank said in early February. "We saw the same thing that you saw on the field. I think this is a very talented player, a very talented athlete."

Given his age, this is also likely to be Patterson's last shot at a reasonably big payday. If another team values him much more highly than the Falcons do, then he'd be foolish to turn down that offer.

The Atlanta Falcons have hired Ryan Pace to the front office as a senior personnel executive, the team announced Thursday.

Pace had been the Chicago Bears general manager for seven years, starting in 2015 before he was fired after the 2021 season along with head coach Matt Nagy.

The executive previously spent 15 years with the New Orleans Saints, during which he worked alongside current Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot. Fontenot is going into his second season with Atlanta.

The Falcons finished 7-10 last season, although the roster still needs work after finishing 26th in the NFL in points scored and 29th in points allowed. Despite finishing just two games away from the playoffs, only four teams had a worse point differential (minus-146).

Pace oversaw multiple rebuild attempts in Chicago and was hailed as one of the top executives in the league in 2018 when the team finished 12-4. It was an increase in seven wins from the previous season, leading to the Bears' first playoff appearance in eight years.

A bold trade for linebacker Khalil Mack helped create the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL that season.

That turned out to be the only winning season during Pace's tenure, however, and he was fired after a 6-11 campaign in 2021.

Pace notably selected Mitchell Trubisky with the No. 2 pick of the 2017 draft ahead of Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, while 2021 first-round pick Justin Fields also struggled in his first year.

The Falcons will look for more success as they seek their first playoff appearance since 2017.   

The Atlanta Falcons have yet to map out a succession plan beyond Matt Ryan, but that might change with the 2022 NFL draft.

ESPN's Mel Kiper called the Falcons a "team to watch" for one of the top quarterbacks in this year's draft class. On Monday's First Draft episode (25:27), Kiper also called the Falcons "the most interesting team" because of the QB intrigue:

They didn't take a quarterback last year; they went for Kyle Pitts, the receiving entity. Now they get another receiver in Drake London in [Todd McShay's] mock, but you're passing on the quarterback. And I can see why, you'd be reaching. But somebody always does. They always stretch it for these quarterbacks, reach for a guy that's maybe 20 on the board. They take him in the top 10 to 12. ... The heir apparent to Matt Ryan, if they fall in love with a [Kenny] Pickett, a [Malik] Willis or a [Matt] Corral in late April, they would certainly be a team to watch.

The general attitude toward the 2022 QB class is lukewarm.

Coming out of the Senior Bowl, Cincinnati's Desmond Ridder (No. 17) was the highest-rated QB on the big board for the B/R NFL Scouting Department. Pickett was the only other signal-caller in the top 50.

However, the value of the position and scarcity of options inevitably mean teams often select a quarterback a little earlier than expected, as Kiper laid out. B/R's most recent mock draft had Pickett, Ridder and Willis all off the board in the first round, with Pickett at No. 9 to the Denver Broncos.

Last year, the Falcons passed on Justin Fields and Mac Jones when they made Pitts the fourth overall pick. The rookie tight end went on make the Pro Bowl.

While Atlanta seems to have a key piece of its passing game going forward, the absence of a young quarterback to eventually replace Ryan is still glaring. The benefit of reaching for Willis, Ridder or Corral is that they'd have a more gradual adjustment process.

Perhaps that mitigates some of the risk in taking a QB who is far from a sure thing at the next level.

Two years after signing with the Atlanta Falcons, Dante Fowler Jr. will be a free agent this offseason. 

The Falcons announced on Wednesday they have released the 27-year-old after he recorded 7.5 sacks in two seasons. 

Coming off a career year in 2019 with 11.5 sacks playing on the same defensive line as Aaron Donald with the Los Angeles Rams, the Falcons signed Fowler to a three-year, $48 million deal in March 2020. 

Fowler was unable to carry over that performance during his time in Atlanta. His 4.5 sacks in 2021 did lead the team, but that says a lot more about the state of the Falcons' pass rush than it does about Fowler. 

Per ESPN's metrics, the Falcons were tied with the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings for the third-worst pass-rush win rate in the NFL this season (34 percent). 

Pro Football Focus (h/t Evan Birchfield of The Falcoholic) gave Fowler an overall grade of 55.9 in 2021. 

Per Spotrac, releasing Fowler will only count $4.7 million against their cap for 2022. They are currently $5.9 million over the cap. 

Fowler was originally the No. 3 overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2016 NFL draft. He recorded eight sacks in 2017 to help Jacksonville win the AFC South and reach the conference championship game. 

The Jaguars traded Fowler to the Rams in October 2018. He recorded 13.5 sacks in 24 regular-season games with Los Angeles. He played in Super Bowl LIII against the New England Patriots, recording two tackles for loss in a 13-3 defeat. 

Fowler has recorded 200 combined tackles, 59 quarterback hits, 44 tackles for loss and 35 sacks in 91 career games.     

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley stepped away from the team last year, citing a need to take care of his mental well-being.

On Wednesday, Falcons owner Arthur Blank addressed trade rumors surrounding the wideout and told team writer Scott Bair that Atlanta will welcome Ridley back as soon as he's ready to return. But Blank acknowledged that Ridley might prefer to part ways with the team.

"We love the young man," Blank said. "He has had a great history in Atlanta. We'd love him to stay in Atlanta. Whether or not he wants to do that—he may decide that he wants a fresh start someplace else. We don't know that. I don't know that. I don't have information to indicate that, but we'll see how that plays out."

Ridley is under contract with Atlanta for the 2022 season after the team exercised his fifth-year option last spring. Blank went on to say that his main focus is continuing to support Ridley in whatever way he needs to help him feel better.

"We've been totally supportive in every way that we can be, both emotionally and financially in working with him as well as his agent," he said. "We'll see, but I'm mostly concerned about him as a human being."

Ridley played just five games in 2021. He missed the team's Week 5 game in London against the New York Jets because of a "non-injury-related matter." Ridley rejoined the team for the next game and scored a touchdown in a win over the Miami Dolphins. But he stepped away for good in Week 8.

The 27-year-old finished the year with 31 catches for 281 yards and two touchdowns. Ridley had an outstanding 2020 season in which he accumulated 90 receptions for 1,374 yards and nine scores and earned second-team All-Pro honors.

The No. 26 overall pick in the 2018 draft, Ridley was expected to be the Falcons' No. 1 receiver last season after they traded longtime star wideout Julio Jones to the Tennessee Titans. While Ridley was away from the team, rookie tight end Kyle Pitts emerged as the top option in the passing game and finished with team-highs of 68 catches and 1,026 yards.

This year's NFL draft notably does not have a front-runner for the top quarterback in the class. Longtime ESPN NFL draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. threw out an interesting name when discussing who might emerge as the most coveted signal-caller in the next few months.

"The mock draft is about what we're hearing, not what we think, and that's why I say, when you look at Malik Willis, I think by the time we get to late-April, he may be the first quarterback taken," Kiper said.

Willis spent the last two years as the starting quarterback for Liberty and was known for his dual-threat ability. In 2021, he threw for 2,857 yards, 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while adding 878 rushing yards and 13 scores.

Kiper noted that if Willis has an impressive showing at the Senior Bowl on Feb. 5 in Mobile, Alabama, it could propel him into the top 10.

"He's got that thick upper body, he's a powerful kid, he's fast, he surprises people with that deceptive speed and that deceptive strength," Kiper said. "If he lights it up in Mobile, he's gonna really be a guy that's gonna maybe end up in that top 10."

As for where Willis might land, Kiper speculated that the Atlanta Falcons might be ready to pick up the successor to longtime quarterback Matt Ryan.

Ryan has spent his entire 14-year career in Atlanta and threw for 3,968 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last season. It was Ryan's first time throwing for under 4,000 yards since his third year in the league, and it was his lowest touchdown total since 2017. Ryan has thrown double-digit interceptions in each of the past three seasons.

"Maybe Atlanta. ... They passed on quarterbacks last year, the heir-apparent to Ryan. Do they pass on the heir-apparent this year? If Willis is really strong in this draft process over the next 94 days leading up to the draft, I think Malik Willis could end up an Atlanta Falcon at pick No. 8," Kiper said.

The Atlanta Falcons could look to trade receiver Calvin Ridley after he played just five games in 2021.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported the "market would be robust" for Ridley with the New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins listed as potential landing spots.

One league executive projected that a conditional second-round pick that could become a first based on playing time would be a "sweet spot" for Ridley in a potential trade.

Ridley missed 12 games last season and stepped away from the team in October to focus on his "mental well-being."

He finished the year with 31 catches for 281 yards and two touchdowns.

The 27-year-old has been a difference-maker when on the field, totaling 90 catches for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns across 15 games in 2020. His 91.6 receiving yards per game ranked fourth in the NFL.

Ridley has also had a nose for the end zone with 26 touchdown receptions in his first three seasons.

Atlanta might want to keep the talented receiver to improve an offense that finished 26th in the league in points scored this season, although people around the NFL believe a trade is more likely.

"Atlanta is cash-strapped and needs pieces along the offensive line, so they could use the draft capital," an NFC scout told Fowler.

Per Spotrac, Ridley has an $11.1 million cap hit in 2022, the final year of his rookie contract.

Teams might be cautious about trading for a wideout who missed so much time this past season, but a conditional pick could lead to an agreement for both sides.

The Indianapolis Colts similarly traded a conditional second-round draft pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for Carson Wentz last offseason, which became a first-rounder when the quarterback appeared in 75 percent of the team's offensive snaps.