5 offseason moves by Panthers’ NFC South rivals that made us laugh
By Jason Huber
Falcons signed Marcus Mariota
Once again, it’s another Atlanta Falcons move to make us laugh.
After Atlanta traded away Matt Ryan for almost nothing, they preceded to sign former No. 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota to be their new quarterback unless they draft one, which is entirely possible sitting at No. 8 overall.
Mariota has not lived up to the hype since he was drafted in 2015 and has not started an NFL game since Week 6 of the 2019 season. At 28 years old, the signal-caller has a 29-32 overall record with a 62.8 percent career completion percentage and a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 77:45.
He hasn’t been bad but he also hasn’t been great. This will be even harder to do with the lack of weapons surrounding him on the Falcons outside of Kyle Pitts.
In addition to his mediocre play, Mariota has always been injury-prone.
Mariota will reunite with head coach Arthur Smith, who was his offensive coordinator on the Tennessee Titans. But there is no promise that he will break out into a reliable guy this late into his career.
It remains to be seen whether the Falcons will draft a prospect to develop. Even if they do, the rookie will likely have to sit and wait behind Mariota until an opportunity arises – something the Carolina Panthers might also be contemplating with Sam Darnold’s future in serious doubt.