After being sent home from Falcons practice late last week, Ray-Ray McCloud is done with the team. Atlanta is officially moving on via release, per a team announcement.
This is not especially surprising, considering the Falcons had booted the veteran wide receiver/return man from a workout before its Week 7 game. McCloud became a healthy scratch for the second straight game. This evidently did not go over well, and the parties will split midway through their second season together.
Cutting McCloud, who is a vested veteran set to avoid the waiver wire, will bring less than $500K in dead money for the Falcons. He had been tied to a two-year, $5MM deal; the guarantees paid out in 2024. Only part of McCloud’s signing bonus will be left on Atlanta’s payroll.
Considering McCloud’s 2024 production, this is a surprising cut. But the partnership had trended downward this year. The career return specialist erupted for 686 receiving yards and 765 from scrimmage — both far and away career-high marks — and worked as the team’s primary kick returner. He had been less involved this year, returning four kicks and a punt and adding six receptions for 64 yards.
Raheem Morris said the McCloud situation is not tied to the team’s decision to fire receivers coach Ike Hilliard. McCloud, however, saw his role vastly reduced after that decision. He played 69.7% of the team’s offensive snaps in Week 3; after Hilliard’s firing a day later, the slot target was at 35.4% in Week 4. He has not played since, being scratched for the team’s games against the Bills and 49ers.
No WR3 has emerged in Atlanta this season, with Drake London and Darnell Mooney the top two cogs at the position and Kyle Pitts in place at tight end. The Falcons are seeing Bijan Robinson craft a dominant season in what could be a de facto contract year, as his first offseason of extension-eligibility (after Morris has heaped praise on the former No. 8 overall pick) comes in 2026. Robinson’s 390 receiving yards are second to London on the roster, and the RB’s 914 scrimmage yards trail only Christian McCaffrey (981) in the NFL. Atlanta’s third-leading WR (Casey Washington) has five receptions for 69 yards.
Since the Falcons cut McCloud before the trade deadline, he will pass directly to free agency. The Falcons were the 29-year-old’s fifth NFL team, after he had bounced from Buffalo to Carolina to Pittsburgh to San Francisco between 2018-23. McCloud’s return history at the very least figures to generate interest from teams, even as being dropped after being dismissed from practice is not exactly a good look.