Sports Illustrated Provides Harsh Assessment of Falcons' Free Agency

The Atlanta Falcons have been quite active over the last week. Ian Cunningham and the Falcons’ front office have worked to infuse their roster with fresh talent and crucial depth. While they have been busy, their moves have lacked the flair of some other franchises across the league. Other teams in the NFC South have opted to be big spenders, while the Falcons have taken a more ‘eat your vegetables’ approach.

Their activity opens the door to a more ambitious 2027, but Cunningham also elevated the floor for the Falcons in 2026 with the types of moves he made.

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Despite that fact, the Falcons’ moves have been met with a degree of apprehension and criticism from the national media. Sports Illustrated was particularly down on the moves that Cunningham opted for over the last week.

The highest-graded move for the Falcons, according to writers Matt Verderame and Gilberto Manzano, was the addition of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. They gave Atlanta a B- for this move, saying that Tagovailoa can “step in and win some games” and that he will give “Atlanta depth at the sport’s paramount position.”

Considering the comments and the price of $1.3 million on a one-year deal, one would think the Falcons would get a significantly higher grade for this move. For context, Kyler Murray, who signed an identical deal in Minnesota, received an A. They explained that with “Arizona paying all but the minimum, this is an A for the Vikings.”

Tagovailoa and Murray have had very similar careers. Both are 28. Both have struggled with injuries. Both carry 17-game averages between 3,900 and 4,000 yards for their careers, with virtually identical touchdown-to-interception ratios. The only significant difference is that Tagovailoa has a much better record as a starter (44-32, 58% win percentage) compared to Murray (38-48-1, 44%).

Both are considered to be polarizing players at this point in their respective careers, but the discrepancy in grades is curious.

For their signing of wide receiver Jahan Dotson, the writers gave the Falcons a D+. They called him “at best” a depth receiver for Atlanta as they look to backfill the release of Darnell Mooney.

Former All-Pro wide receiver and NFL Network analyst Steve Smith disagreed with this sentiment last week. Smith referred to Dotson as an ideal secondary receiver for Drake London in Atlanta.

In other moves, the Falcons received a C for their signing of edge rushers Cameron Thomas and Samson Ebukam (despite him being just a few seasons removed from a 9.5 sack season and two seasons removed from his Achilles injury). They received a C+ for edge rusher Azeez Ojulari, which can be understood given his injury history, and defensive lineman Chris Williams.

Linebacker Channing Tindall, who will project mostly as a special teams contributor in Atlanta, received a C.

Of the players who departed Atlanta, ironically, none of them were graded lower than a B: Tyler Allgeier (B+), David Onyemata (B), Dee Alford (B), and Kaden Elliss (A).

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