Two Recent Falcons Free-Agent Contracts Ranked Among Worst Ever

With free agency set to kick off next week, the staff at Bleacher Report ranked the 50 worst free-agent signings in league history. The Atlanta Falcons found themselves responsible for two entries on the list.

A recent contract cracked the top 20. They ranked Kirk Cousins’ deal 17th. The Falcons handed him a four-year, $180 million deal, with $100 million guaranteed ahead of the 2024 season.

The staff is kind to the Falcons, saying it was somewhat justified at the time.

“At the time, the deal didn’t seem outrageous,” they wrote. “Cousins missed over half of the 2023 season due to an Achilles injury, but in 2022, he threw for over 4,500 yards, led the Vikings to 13 wins and made the Pro Bowl for the fourth time.”

The Falcons were coming off a season in which Arthur Smith was playing quarterback carousel with both Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinecke, neither of whom threw for over 3,000 yards or 12 touchdowns. The team was desperate, and it showed in the deal they gave Cousins.

The team further complicated matters when they drafted Michael Penix Jr a month later, a move that Cousins said ‘misled’ him.

Before Cousins had even taken a snap with the team, his relationship with the team was strained. However, through nine games, his contract seemed well worth it. The Falcons were 6-3 with a two-game lead in the NFC South.

However, they won just one of their next five games, with Cousins hiding an injury from the staff before ultimately getting benched ahead of a Week 15 matchup with the New York Giants. He only saw action in 2025 after injuries sidelined Penix and is expected to be cut by the team next week.

A massive contract for nine games of good quarterback play certainly warrants the ranking of being one of the worst free agent signings in NFL history.

Coming in at No. 45 was the Falcons’ decision to sign defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. Atlanta signed him to a three-year deal worth $45 million with $29 million guaranteed ahead of the 2020 season, hoping he could anchor the team’s pass rush.

At the time, he was viewed as a good schematic fit for Atlanta.

“Fowler projected to be a good fit in head coach Dan Quinn’s defense since he was a versatile edge-rusher who could line up with his hand in the dirt as a defensive end and outside linebacker,” the staff wrote.

However, he was not a good fit. Fowler, who came off a season with 11.5 sacks with the Rams, recorded just three sacks in 14 games with the Falcons in his first season in Atlanta as the team finished 23rd in the NFL with 29 sacks. In his second and final season with the team, he showed improvement, despite losing his starting job under new head coach Arthur Smith, with 4.5 sacks.

“Ironically, Fowler reunited with Quinn in Dallas and Washington, and he recorded 10.5 sacks with the Commanders in 2024. Atlanta paid the highest price for him but got the least amount of production,” the staff wrote.

Ultimately, the Falcons’ costly missteps with Fowler and Cousins underscore the high-risk nature of big free-agent investments in the NFL. Nothing is a guaranteed slam dunk in this league.