By Jordan Long
The Atlanta Falcons are taking a chance on wide receiver Laquon Treadwell. He agreed to a 1-year contract. The financial terms of the deal weren’t announced. This is in hopes of rejuvenating his career.
Treadwell was originally selected 23rd overall in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. It was expected Treadwell was going to improve the receiving core of Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. He was projected to be the wide receiver opposite of Diggs while Thielen played the slot.
Unfortunately, that never panned out. Thielen eventually beat him out to be the #2 wide receiver. In 53 games for the Vikings, Treadwell caught 65 passes for 701 yards and 2 touchdowns. Last season he appeared in 13 games and totaled 184 yards, the fewest since his rookie year. Treadwell caught one touchdown pass.
The Vikings saw that he wasn’t growing in their offense. The franchise decided to decline his 5th-year option on his rookie contract on May 1st, 2019 making him a free agent in the 2020 offseason. Teams were shying away from him because they were set with their wide receivers. Treadwell hasn’t adjusted to the NFL game and couldn’t beat defensive backs to be open for a quarterback to throw his way.
The Falcons are taking a chance. They are set with their top 2 wide receivers in Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley. Treadwell is not expected to be on the field as much as them. He is going to be the backup and should still see some time on the field. It might be as the #4 wide receiver on the depth chart. Quarterback Matt Ryan may throw his way. It will take pressure off of Jones and Ridley to be the only receivers making plays.
Treadwell knows this could be his last chance at being on an NFL roster. The 1-year deal doesn’t give him security, but a shot at showing that he can still perform at a high level. This is a low-risk move for the Falcons. The worst case is Treadwell plays poorly for the Falcons and Atlanta lets him go at the end of the 2020 season.
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