Nathan Rourke signed with the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday following his workout with the team on Wednesday. Rourke was previously a player Atlanta tried to pick up on waivers when he was waived by the Giants in May but they lost their claim to the Patriots. Rourke recently went unclaimed on waivers after he was released by the Patriots. He is now once again with an NFL franchise after he signed a $915,000 1 year deal with Atlanta.
The signing was not the first time the Falcons improved their passing offense by bringing in a CFL Star this offseason. The team signed wide receiver Austin Mack in January. Mack was 5th in receiving yards last year while playing for the Montreal Alouettes.
Rourke is a bit of a longshot to make the Falcons given the current makeup of their quarterback room. Last season saw a rather pedestrian passing output overall over the course of the season as the Atlanta Falcons were ahead of 10 teams in total passing yards at 3,775. Additionally, they were only ahead of 6 teams last season in touchdown passes with 17, an average of 1 per game. It was an improvement from 2022 which saw the Falcons finish ahead of only 1 team in the NFL season in passing yards.
Atlanta QB1, Kirk Cousins
The Falcons spent some major capital in both free agency and the draft to bolster the position this offseason. Atlanta made a big splash in free agency by signing Kirk Cousins to a 4-year deal worth $180 million and $90 million guaranteed. Cousins faced a lot of criticism during his tenure with Minnesota which saw him go 50-37-1 since joining the team in 2018. However, he is undeniably a good quarterback and in my opinion, criminally underrated. Over that span, he threw for 171 touchdowns with 55 interceptions. His 39,471 career passing yards rank him 24th in NFL history. Out of the top 50 quarterbacks in career passing in NFL history, only Cam Newton and Kurt Warner have fewer games played than him in their career.
Atlanta QB2, Michael Penix Jr.
Atlanta made another big splash at the draft by spending serious draft capital when they selected Michael Penix Jr. out of Washinton in the first round 8th overall. Penix Jr. was a Heisman finalist last season which saw him lead the Washington Huskies to the National Championship in which they lost to the Michigan Wolverines. He threw for an impressive 4,903 yards over 15 games for the program last year with 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Over the last 2 seasons, he accumulated 9,544 passing yards with 67 touchdowns and 19 interceptions.
Atlanta QB3, Talor Heinicke
Taylor Heinicke has thrown passes for 4 different NFL teams in the regular season with Houston, Carolina, Washington, and Atlanta since signing with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He’s played in 38 games with 29 starts over his career and has completed 62.5% of his passes for 6,635 yards and 39 touchdowns with 8 interceptions. He saw the most action in 2021 for Washington when he started in 15 games and had a 7-8 record as he passed for 3,419 yards and 0 touchdowns with 15 interceptions. Last season he was elevated from QB2 to QB1 to start in week 9 for Atlanta but suffered a hamstring injury in week 10. Last year he played in 5 games with 4 starts for Atlanta and completed 54.4% of his passes for 890 yards and 5 touchdowns with 4 interceptions. He is entering the final year of a $14 million dollar 2-season contract with the Falcons. This season he has a cap hit of $4,530,000 and would have a be a dead cap cost of $3,320,000 if the Falcons decided to release him.
How Would Rourke Fit Into the Roster
Given the capital spent to acquire Atlanta’s top 2 quarterbacks, it is highly unlikely that there would be any possibility of Rourke passing either player in the depth chart outside of an injury. Keeping Rourke would presumably cost a fair bit more than his $915,000 salary. Presumably, if the Falcons decided to keep Rourke on as their third-string quarterback they would likely move on from Taylor Heinicke. The combined cost of Rourke’s salary and Heinicke’s dead cap would be $4,235,000.
That figure at $4.235 million would essentially be what it would cost the Falcons to keep Nathan Rourke on as their third-string quarterback. Moving from Heinicke to Rourke at third string would save $0.3 million dollars for the team. Naturally, NFL teams tend to shy away from cutting players who have guaranteed payouts in their contracts in favor of players with question marks. Heineicke also brings with him familiarity with the team having been there last year. Atlanta does have a new head coach in Raheem Morris and an offensive coordinator this season in Zac Robinson so the vision for the team could have some changes.
Rourke’s contract does not indicate any serious commitment from the Falcons as it lacks a signing bonus or guarantees. However, Head Coach Raheem Morris spoke highly of him at their opening practice when he told the media “Rourke was very high on our list and somebody we wanted to see.”
Rourke’s ceiling is unknown after he set a record for completion percentage in the CFL at 78.7% in 2022 with the BC Lions and racked up 3,349 yards over 10 just 10 games with 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He is still yet to throw a pass in an NFL regular season game so NFL teams will still see him as a player with a lot to prove.
Rourke making the Falcons is a task in which the odds are not in his favor but signing there was the right move as it gives him a chance to put together more preseason tape. It’s possible for him to win the third-string position although it may not be likely. If he does not make the team he could have a great chance of getting picked up by another team if he can show NFL teams that last year’s preseason was no accident. In 2023 he had the 2nd best QBR among rookies in the preseason.
If Rourke impresses Atlanta enough to win the third-string quarterback position then perhaps they could find a trade partner to send Taylor Heinicke to another team to bring back some value. Last year we saw Joshua Dobbs be traded to Minnesota from Arizona with a 7th-round pick to move up to the 6th round as Minnesota needed quickly improve their depth at quarterback quickly following the injury to Kirk Cousins. The $4.53 million dollar price tag will be an obstacle in moving him as it’s far above what a quarterback in the third-string spot would typically make. Heinicke is currently set to have the 36th-highest average salary among quarterbacks this season.
Many CFL fans are hoping to see Rourke playing meaningful football in the NFL or come back to the CFL. There will be a lot of hurdles for him to overcome to be throwing passes in the regular season but this signing keeps that journey alive.
If the Falcons do choose to hang on and keep Rourke in the organization then in my opinion they would have one of the deepest quarterback rooms in the league. To many the third-string quarterback position has no meaning or value, but we’ve seen recently in the CFL the importance of it as Montreal’s third-string quarterback Davis Alexander led them to victory in each of the last 2 weeks.
@JonathanClink on X
