The Falcoholic
The budding star was a no-brainer for another year on his deal, but a long-term pact should be on the way.
The Atlanta Falcons drafted Drake London with a top ten pick because they firmly believed he could become a high-end top receiver. Through the first two seasons of his career, London showed plenty of promise, but his upside was capped by poor quarterback play.
The third year breakout campaign he just enjoyed left no doubt about just how good London is, though. With Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix throwing him the ball instead of Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder, and Taylor Heinicke, London put up career highs in receptions (100), yards (1,271), and touchdowns (9), and ranked 9th in receptions, 4th in yards, and 9th in touchdowns among NFL receivers and tight ends. It was a phenomenal campaign, and unsurprisingly, it has led the Falcons to pick up his fifth year option.
The long delay here made many of us suspect the Falcons were negotiating a long-term deal with London, and I suspect that deal is still on the way. The Falcons have bought themselves significant breathing room to do so by picking this option up in case they can’t get a deal done ahead of next year’s free agency period, but you should expect London to be a Falcon for the long haul regardless.
He deserves a deal and he deserves to have the option picked up. The fiery London has been an accountable leader on offense, which is valuable, but his on-field catch radius, physicality, ability to work the sideline, and consistent clutch catches have been even more valuable. London will only be 24 years old this season and already has 3,000 career receiving yards, 17th in team history and putting him on pace to chase franchise greats like Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Terance Mathis. When you pick a wide receiver in the top ten they have to hit, and London has pretty emphatically proven to be a hit.
The tantalizing glimpses we got of the rapport between London and Michael Penix made it evident that we may not have seen London’s ceiling yet. With Penix under center, London had 22 of his 100 catches, 352 of his 1,271 yards, and two of his nine touchdowns in just three games; the full season pace for that run would have put him above his 2024 numbers across the board.
Congratulations to London, and we’ll hope to see a long-term pact hammered out sometime between now and next March to ensure he and Penix can dominate opposing defenses for years to come.
