The Atlanta Falcons have reportedly agreed to terms with former Chicago Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney on a three-year $39 million dollar deal with $26 million dollars guaranteed, and some Falcons fans believe the Falcons overpaid for Mooney, but former Bears Guard and now Analyst for WMVP and The Chicago Bears Radio Network Tom Thayer joined The Morning Shift earlier today and explained why that’s not the case.
“Darnell Mooney unfortunately has been plagued by inefficient quarterback play and I think if you can get a quarterback like Kirk Cousins that can really increase what a receiver is capable of doing like he did with Justin Jefferson and the other guys he’s played along with in his career that he can take a guy like Darnell Mooney and like I said the rest of the weapons you guys have and turn him into a bonafide one and a half to a number two receiver on a football team. I have all the admiration in the world for Darnell and when I saw him sign with Atlanta I was happy that he was going to be getting a chance to be the guy that he came to the NFL to be.”
A fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft, Mooney caught 81 passes for 1,055 yards with four touchdowns. But in the last two seasons combined, Mooney recorded just 71 receptions for 907 yards. In 2023, Mooney had 31 catches for 414 yards with one touchdown in 15 games. However, nearly 40% of deep targets to Darnell Mooney have been inaccurate in his career, but over that span the number one most accurate quarterback on deep targets (20+ yards downfield) is Mooney's new quarterback Kirk Cousins.