Why the Failures of the Previous Regime Might Have Doomed the 2026 Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons find themselves in a tough spot going into the 2026 regular season. The roster as a whole isn’t bad by any stretch of the word, but it’s still not good enough to truly contend unless everything goes right. It’s the same song and dance almost every year since their last playoff appearance in 2017. Despite current general manager Ian Cunningham doing a fine job with the roster he was dealt, the previous regime's plentiful mistakes may have already put the writing on the wall for another season of potentially not sniffing the postseason.

For starters, the cap space, or lack thereof, can be tied back to former general manager Terry Fontenot’s incompetence. To put it frankly, the contracts that were given out simply weren’t worth it for the value of the players they got. The Falcons were tied to four massive contracts that took up over 60 percent of their cap going into the 2025 season. The only contract that was worth the money was All-Pro safety Jessie Bates. Bates was easily Fontenot's best signing and has been one of the key pieces to improving Atlanta’s once-horrendous defense. Defensive tackle David Onyemata was solid as well, but his age caught up to him during the final years with the team.

The last two big contracts were detrimental to the team’s success, both short-and long-term. Former Chicago Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney started his Falcons tenure off fairly strong, finishing just shy of 1,000 receiving yards during his 2024 campaign. The next season, however, was a disaster. Mooney had one of the lowest catch percentages in the NFL during the 2025 season, sitting at a poor 44 percent. The former Bear finished his 2025 season with 443 yards and one receiving touchdown. The last contract was the biggest and easily the worst.

Four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons during the 2024 offseason. There were a ton of red flags with the signing before pen even touched paper. Cousins was coming off a torn Achilles during his 12th season in the league and fifth with the Minnesota Vikings. An injury that significant at that age usually spells doom, and lo and behold, Cousins was not the same quarterback by any stretch of the imagination. His mechanics were off; he could barely move in the pocket; even his arm looked cooked. During his first year with the Falcons, the 2015 NFL completion leader led quarterbacks in turnovers with 18; 16 of them were interceptions. His poor play led to his benching and eventual contract termination with the current Falcons regime. Cousins, Mooney, and Onyemata will not suit up for Atlanta during the 2026 season, but their contracts are still on the team’s books for the next two years minimum. That lack of money is why the Falcons were so quiet during the offseason.

The biggest failure of the previous regime was not finding any consistency at quarterback. After franchise legend Matt Ryan was traded to the Indianapolis Colts during the 2022 offseason, Atlanta has had a new starting quarterback every subsequent season. Journeyman quarterback Marcus Mariota was the veteran whom they believed would groom 2022 third-round pick Desmond Ridder to be the next franchise quarterback. The less said about Ridder, the better. This led to the signing of the aforementioned Cousins and the drafting of former Heisman finalist Michael Penix with the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. To this day, the asset management makes no sense. Why sign a then-35-year-old quarterback coming off of a serious injury and then proceed to draft an often-injured 24-year-old quarterback with a premium draft position? It was panned almost universally at the time, and as the years go by, it seems like the critics were correct in their assessment. Penix has yet to play a full season of games and will have to battle fellow lefty and often-injured quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for the starting job in 2026. The failure to get a good quarterback or have enough cap space to sign valuable players is the main reason why the media is so low on Atlanta coming into the regular season. All the fans can do at this point is hope that things will get better under Cunningham.