The Falcons have turned down Takkarist McKinley‘s fifth-year option, according to a tweet from the edge rusher. With that, the 2017 first-round pick is now set to enter his final year under contract in Atlanta. 
This was the expected move – McKinley has not lived up to expectations since being selected with the No. 26 overall pick. In his first two seasons, he did manage a fair amount of sacks – a combined 13 QB takedowns between his first two seasons. Last year, however, he seemed to regress. McKinley finished out with just 3.5 sacks in 15 contests. He also finished the year on IR thanks to a shoulder injury during the Falcons’ upset victory over the Niners in December.
The Falcons gave up a third-round pick in order to move up five spots for the UCLA product. That didn’t pan out, but McKinley’s not the only Thomas Dimitroff draft pick that hasn’t flourished. In February, the Falcons cut ties with Vic Beasley, who had just finished up his own fifth-year option season.
McKinley’s 2021 option would have been guaranteed for injury only, a risk the Falcons were not willing to take. That additional year would have paid him upwards of $10MM – far too pricey given all of the question marks.
This year, the Falcons hope to see better edge results from Dante Fowler Jr., who joined the club on a three-year, $48MM deal in March. The former Ram is coming off of his best season ever, with career highs in tackles (58), sacks (11.5), passes defended (six), and forced fumbles (two).
For a D minded HC, he can’t build a D worth a hoot. Got lucky being w/ Seattle. But he’s rich and will always be able to coordinate for 6-7 figures.
yeah these 1st round picks haven’t been working out well at all since Quinn got here…both because of injuries and ineffectiveness. Ridley only one that has made the most impact and he was simply too good to pass up after he fell so far
I’m sorry, but our drafts have been brutal for years. Absolutely brutal….
Just too many reaches and West Coast folks. Hate on me for it if you want, but Quinn is blinded by his time out there and I think he convinces TD to draft too many players from that area. It’s fine if it’s a late round reach or a true talent that has fallen well below his believed value .. but all too often it’s someone that is above his ranking. It just feels like they are either in love with that area of the country or they simply do not understand football.
Last 4 years (25 picks)
– 4 SEC
– 1 Big Ten
– 4 ACC
– 0 Big 12
– 6 Pac 12
– 3 Non-FBS (Charleston, Yale, Drake)
– rest are non-power 5 FBS
Sorry, but that’s someone that should be fired. Or someones. What’s worse is that so many of their picks are ‘tweeners’ and NFL history shows us that most tweeners do not pan out. Every now and then one does, but all too often they are not good enough at either position and worse yet, when a new coordinator might come in, they don’t have any fit at all.
Add to this the fact that the players who really panned out in his earlier drafts and it’s obvious where he should be picking .. yet he still goes away from the true football conferences.
Go back and look at his years BEFORE Quinn got here and he pillaged stayed with the Power 5 schools for the most part. He built a super bowl contender off that and then proceeded to completely destroy it over the last few years with so many bad picks. I actually liked the 2019 draft and even 2018 wasn’t too bad (Gage especially) .. but just too many wasted picks otherwise.
TD needs to go, but I honestly think he is just weak. If he would stand up to Quinn (or fire the guy) and go back to the way he drafted over the first handful of years .. he would be alright. I think Blank finally realized he can’t keep ‘rewarding’ older players as it hurts their cap, so if the Falcons can just fix the draft/coach nonsense they would be alright. My first hit would be the coach. Then see if TD turns it around and if not .. buh bye.