Cordarrelle Patterson Says He Wants to Re-Sign, Retire with Falcons in Free Agency

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After enjoying the best season of his career, free-agent playmaker Cordarrelle Patterson isn’t looking to go anywhere.

Patterson told ESPN’s Michael Rothstein he not only wants to re-sign with the Atlanta Falcons but that he could envision retiring with the franchise.

“It feels good,” he said. “It feels like it’s the right place, but at the end of the day, I’ve got to do what’s best for me and my family, you know, and if Atlanta is not that place, then it’s not that place.”

While Patterson failed to make the Pro Bowl team or earn All-Pro honors—something he did in 2019 and 2020—the 2021 campaign was arguably a high-water mark for the 30-year-old.

He carried the ball 153 times for 618 yards and six touchdowns after having run for 1,017 yards and eight scores between 2013 and 2020. He was Atlanta’s leading rusher.

Patterson also caught 52 passes for 548 yards and five touchdowns, matching or besting his previous highs in all three categories. He told Rothstein the Falcons “spoiled me” with how they involved him in the offense.

Even though he had established himself as a premier return man, Patterson settled for a one-year, $3 million deal with the Falcons last spring. Now, he’s poised to earn a relatively sizable raise and potentially some long-term security.

Pro Football Focus projected him to get $12 million over two years. That would be his highest annual salary ever.

Because of how well he fit into first-year head coach Arthur Smith’s offense, one would presume Atlanta is looking to re-sign Patterson. 

“From our standpoint, we’d love to have [CP] back,” team owner Arthur Blank said in early February. “We saw the same thing that you saw on the field. I think this is a very talented player, a very talented athlete.”

Given his age, this is also likely to be Patterson’s last shot at a reasonably big payday. If another team values him much more highly than the Falcons do, then he’d be foolish to turn down that offer.