Maybe the Atlanta Falcons plan to score 35 points a game next season. That’s one explanation for their conservative approach to free agency this week, and maybe the only one that will comfort the fan base.
Atlanta’s 2024 defense finished the season 25th in expected points added (minus-4.1 per 100 snaps), 23rd in points allowed (24.9 per game) and defensive success rate (57.2 percent), and 20th in yards per play allowed (5.5). The Falcons fired defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake in response and hired former Atlanta assistant Jeff Ulbrich to replace him.
Ulbrich’s welcome-home gift was … not much. Instead of shopping in the full-price section of the free-agency market, the Falcons have been frugal, adding one proven (but aging) commodity, one roll of the dice and one special teams ace to the defense.
The additions don’t balance out the defensive subtractions, though. Most notably, stalwart defensive tackle and franchise icon Grady Jarrett was released after failing to come to terms with the team on a restructured deal and signed with the Chicago Bears. In addition to Jarrett, five defensive starters from Atlanta’s final game of the season are gone. Defensive tackle Eddie Goldman signed with the Washington Commanders, and outside linebackers Lorenzo Carter and Matthew Judon, cornerback Dee Alford and safety Justin Simmons remain on the free-agency market.
The sum total of the moves equals an exasperated sigh from Falcons fans, but it also brings up a question: Is a bigger move on the horizon?
Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson has requested a trade and would give Atlanta its most proven pass rusher since John Abraham. Hendrickson is third in the NFL in sacks (70.5) and 11th in pressure rate (16.9 percent) in the last five years, but the thought around the league is that the Bengals would require at least a second-round pick plus a third-day selection in return. One general manager called the Bengals’ current asking price for Hendrickson “ridiculous,” according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, but Cincinnati might be willing to lower that price if the situation drags on.
If Atlanta is going to justify giving away any draft capital, it would have to sign Hendrickson to a new contract after a deal, which would easily exceed $20 million per year. The Falcons have enough financial flexibility to fit that sort of deal into their salary cap, but it would be a big risk for a 30-year-old pass rusher.
Atlanta could be thinking it got Hendrickson Lite with the addition of 32-year-old Leonard Floyd, who agreed to a one-year deal worth $10 million. Floyd is eighth in the league in sacks in the last five years (48), but that’s where his favorable comparison to Hendrickson ends.
Floyd is 100th in pass-rush win rate (11.2 percent) in the last five years, and he has 28 sacks in the last three seasons compared to Hendrickson’s 43. Floyd, the No. 9 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, played for Atlanta head coach Raheem Morris for two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, so he should make an immediate impact for the 2025 defense, but he doesn’t qualify as a splash acquisition at this point in his career.
The Falcons’ only other free-agency additions were linebacker Divine Deablo, who agreed to a two-year, $14 million deal and probably will slide in next to Kaden Elliss as a starter on the inside, and cornerback Mike Ford, who could compete for the nickelback position but at the very least will be a special teams stalwart.
Deablo, a third-round pick by the Raiders in 2021, started 29 games for Las Vegas in the last two seasons and had 169 tackles, four pass deflections and two sacks. Ford has played for four teams (including Atlanta in 2022) in his seven-year NFL career. He has started 10 games on defense in that time, and he’s 20th in the league in special teams snaps (1,436) since 2020.
The Falcons haven’t made any offensive additions in free agency, but there wasn’t much need. Every starter from the season finale against the Carolina Panthers remains under contract except for center Drew Dalman, who signed with the Chicago Bears. Atlanta appears to have an heir apparent ready: Ryan Neuzil, who is a free agent but has a right of first refusal tag that gives the Falcons the right to match any offer he gets from another team.
The team’s biggest offensive question is the same as it has been since the season ended: What will happen with backup quarterback Kirk Cousins? Atlanta officials continue to insist publicly and privately that they will not release him despite a $10 million roster conversion that kicks in Monday and will only make him more expensive.
The Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants and Tennessee Titans all went through the first week of free agency without an obvious resolution at quarterback, which makes them potential trade partners. If Atlanta can find a trade partner for Cousins, it’s unlikely the Falcons would get the type of return that would allow them to contribute to the defensive makeover that is needed.
The Falcons have five picks in the upcoming draft, two of which are in the seventh round, so they have to nail those top three picks, find a way to add Hendrickson or go back to that 35 points a game plan we mentioned earlier.
