Lions S Morice Norris In Stable Condition After Scary Injury
7:51pm: In another encouraging update, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes Norris is expected to be discharged from the hospital today. His recovery process will continue from home while Norris works toward his return to the lineup.
10:29am: Lions safety Morice Norris “is in stable condition and has feeling and movement in all his extremities,” according to a team statement.
Norris suffered a head injury in Friday night’s preseason game against the Falcons and had to be taken off the field in an ambulance. The two teams agreed to run out the remaining 14 minutes on the clock and ended the game joined in prayer at midfield.
“[Falcons head coach] Raheem Morris is a class act,” said Lions HC Dan Campbell in his post-game presser. “He’s the ultimate class act. So we agreed that it just didn’t feel right to finish that game.”
The Lions’ statement also said that Norris “will remain at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta overnight for observation.” The second-year safety appeared in two games last year, primarily on special teams.
Norris himself posted an update on social media this morning that he is “all good,” per Justin Rogers of the Detroit Football Network.
Obviously, the Lions’ focus will be on Norris’ health as they evaluate his status moving forward, but early indications suggest that the 24-year-old avoided a serious, long-term injury.
Minor NFL Transactions: 8/9/25
Saturday’s minor moves around the NFL:
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: CB M.J. Devonshire, RB Myles Gaskin
- Placed on IR: CB Bilhal Kone (story)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Signed: DB Aydan White
- Placed on IR: CB Levi Wallace
Los Angeles Chargers
- Placed on IR: LT Rashawn Slater (story)
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn
- Waived: OL Zack Johnson
Gaskin worked out for Baltimore on Saturday, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports. The 28-year-old is far removed from his most productive days, which came with the Dolphins. Since the start of the 2022 season, Gaskin has handled just 13 carries. He will offer the Ravens depth in the backfield through their two remaining preseason games.
One week ago, the Jags signed Wallace in a move which allowed him to compete for a depth spot in their secondary. The 30-year-old has 96 appearances and 72 starts to his name, but an injury has quickly ended his chances of making Jacksonville’s roster. White was waived when Wallace arrived, so he will simply continue in his bid to earn a special teams role ahead of roster cutdowns later this month.
Titans LB Anfernee Orji Suffers ACL Tear
Anfernee Orji‘s third NFL campaign will not include any regular season playing time. The Titans linebacker suffered an ACL tear during practice on Thursday, per veteran reporter Paul Kuharsky. 
[RELATED: Recapping Titans’ Offseason]
As a result of the injury, Orji will miss the 2025 campaign. The former UDFA entered the league with the Saints in 2023 but did not see any playing time as a rookie. Last year, he managed to survive roster cuts with New Orleans and made a total of 16 appearances.
During that time, Orji made a pair of starts and registered 30 tackles. The 24-year-old played sparingly on defense but was a key figure on special teams, logging an 82% snap share in the third phase. Orji was waived by the Saints in May and then claimed by the Titans, but his bid to make Tennessee’s Week 1 roster has come to an abrupt end.
The Titans signed Cody Barton in free agency, and the former Seahawk, Commander and Bronco will be tasked with handling starting duties on his latest team. Meanwhile, 2024 draftees Cedric Gray and James Williams, along with third-year Titan Otis Reese, are in place as depth/special teams options at the linebacker spot. Their health through the remainder of the offseason will be key in the wake of today’s news.
Orji’s attention will now turn to the lengthy recovery process associated with ACL tears. The Titans currently have over $29MM in cap space, so adding a new linebacker via free agency will not be challenging if a depth move is deemed necessary.
Chargers Sign T David Sharpe
In the wake of Rashawn Slater‘s season-ending knee injury, the Chargers are taking the free agent route to add offensive tackle depth. David Sharpe has a deal in place with Los Angeles, as first reported by KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. The move is now official, per a team announcement.
Sharpe’s last regular season action came in 2023 when he made eight appearances off the bench with the Panthers. He recently visited the Dolphins without an agreement being worked out. In the case of the Chargers, though, Slater’s absence created the need for veteran depth.
With 45 appearances to his name, Sharpe will offer experience to the Bolts provided he survives roster cuts. The 29-year-old has only made six starts in the NFL, with the most recent one coming in 2020. Los Angeles will move forward with Joe Alt filling in for Slater on the blindside with Trey Pipkins taking on a starting gig at right tackle. The team’s depth chart behind those two will be sorted out over the coming weeks.
Sharpe spent time with the Ravens in 2021 and ’22. As a result, he is a familiar face for Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz and offensive coordinator Greg Roman. The former fourth-rounder will look to earn a swing tackle role during the remainder of the offseason.
Sharpe has rarely been attached to a contract worth more than the veteran minimum, and given his absence from regular season action in 2024 that should be expected to continue with this Bolts pact. The team entered Saturday with roughly $31.5MM in cap space, so the Sharpe addition will not impact any other moves being planned as a return to the postseason is sought out in 2025.
Falcons, S Ronnie Harrison Agree To Deal
Ronnie Harrison has lined up his next NFL opportunity. The veteran safety has agreed to a deal with the Falcons, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. 
[RELATED: Reviewing Falcons’ Offseason]
After splitting his first five seasons between the Jaguars and Browns, Harrison spent the 2023 campaign in Indianapolis. He handled a 51% defensive snap share during that time but was limited to seven games. Harrison was among the Colts’ roster cuts last summer, although he quickly rejoined the team via a practice squad agreement.
In total, the 28-year-old made 10 appearances with Indianapolis last season. During that time, Harrison played just three defensive snaps but was a key contributor on special teams. A similar workload can be expected in the event he survives roster cuts with Atlanta later this month.
The Falcons still have Jessie Bates in place as a full-time starter for 2025. The other first-team spot belonged to Justin Simmons last year, but it has become increasingly clear during the offseason that he will not be brought back. As a result, a competition between free agent addition Jordan Fuller and third-round rookie Xavier Watts is ongoing.
The runner-up in that contest will be expected to handle a notable special teams role. The same will be true in Harrison’s case, and it will be interesting to see how he fares through the remainder of training camp and the Falcons’ two remaining preseason games.
Bengals S Geno Stone To Miss Time
The Bengals’ safety depth will be tested during the final weeks of the offseason. Geno Stone exited the team’s preseason opener with what has been termed a soft tissue injury. 
On Saturday, head coach Zac Taylor said (via The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr.) Stone is week-to-week. Depending on how his recovery process fares, missed time during the regular season could be in store as a result. That would leave the Bengals thin in the secondary.
Stone – who agreed to a pay cut in May – is on track to handle starting duties in 2025 alongside Jordan Battle (who has yet to log a defensive snap share above 48% during his two seasons in the NFL). Set to play his sixth season in the league, Stone started every game with Cincinnati last year; he notched a career-high 81 tackles to go along with four interceptions in 2024.
With Stone at least set to miss practice time in the near future, Cincinnati’s backups at the safety spot will receive an extended evaluation. 2024 seventh-round pick Daijahn Anthony and Tycen Anderson (taken in the fifth round in 2022) are next in line on the depth chart. Their performances in the coming days will be key in determining if an outside addition is deemed necessary.
“That’s a group that we’re looking to make sure we’re deep enough there,” Taylor said (via Dehner) when speaking about the Bengals’ remaining healthy safeties. “So I think it’s a good chance to really see where they’re at in their development… Those are guys that these next six practices will be really good for.”
Improving against the pass is a major priority for the Bengals in 2025, so the play of their secondary will be critical. Stone is a pending free agent, and a strong showing this season would help his market value next spring. That will of course depend on his ability to return to action in time for Week 1, something which will be worth monitoring.
Justin Simmons, Jordan Poyer and Vonn Bell – who returned to Cincinnati on a one-year pact for 2024 – are among the safeties still unsigned at this point. The Bengals currently have nearly $29MM in cap space, so if an addition is to be pursued in the wake of Stone’s injury, finances will not be an issue.
Bears Host RB Jamaal Williams For Workout
The Bears hosted veteran running back Jamaal Williams for a workout Saturday morning, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. 
[RELATED: Recapping Bears’ Offseason]
Williams’ star has fallen since a career-best 2022 that featured a league-high 17 rushing touchdowns and his first 1,000-yard season on the ground. He spent the last two years in New Orleans in a rotational role behind Alvin Kamara with only 181 touches in 27 games. To no surprise, a release took place in March.
The Bears would be Williams’ third NFC North team. He started his career in Green Bay as a fourth-round pick in 2017 before signing with the Lions as a free agent in 2021. Chicago is near the bottom of the NFL in terms of cap space, having entered Saturday with roughly $13MM in available funds. That would still allow for a Williams signing without much issue given the nature of his market.
The 30-year-old carried an AAV of $3MM during his Lions stint and his Saints pact averaged $4MM per season. Given the limited nature of his workload in New Orleans – and the fact he averaged just 3.1 yards per carry – Williams will be in line for a deal much closer to the league minimum when he signs with his next team. If that were to be the Bears, a notable workload would not be expected.
Chicago has D’Andre Swift in place to handle lead back duties once again in 2025. 2023 fourth-rounder Roschon Johnson, seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai and veteran special teamer Travis Homer round out the depth chart. If Williams were to sign with the Bears, he would look to carve out a role as a short-yardage specialist during the final weeks of the offseason.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Ravens Work Out S Jordan Whitehead
The Ravens hosted veteran safety Jordan Whitehead for a workout on Friday, according to KRPC2’s Aaron Wilson.
Whitehead, 28, is a seven-year veteran coming off his second stint with the Buccaneers. He started their first 11 games in 2024 before suffering a pectoral injury and spending four games on the IR. He came back to the field for one game before injuries sustained in an automobile accident forced him onto the non-football injury list to end the season.
The Buccaneers decided not to pick up Whitehead’s option bonus, making him a free agent in March, but they left the door open for a reunion pending his recovery. In late July, Whitehead received full medical clearance to return to the field and visited the Falcons.
Baltimore was Whitehead’s second reported visit. He would bring some veteran experience to a talented young Ravens safety room, led by a pair of first-round picks in Kyle Hamilton and Malaki Starks. They were supposed to be a trio with Ar’Darius Washington, who stabilized the team’s pass defense alongside Hamilton in the second half of the 2024 season, but the former UDFA tore his Achilles during offseason training.
2024 seventh-rounder Sanoussi Kane has been stepping up as the Ravens’ third safety since spring practices. He started alongside Starks with Hamilton held out of the team’s preseason opener against the Colts. Fellow second-year safety Beau Brade led the Ravens with four solo tackles on Thursday night, and undrafted Reuben Lowery got an extended run as well. All three are unproven as defenders at the NFL level, though Kane and Brade performed well on special teams as rookies.
Whitehead, a Buccaneers fourth-round pick in 2018, has been in the pros longer than any Ravens safety. His only absences in the last six years were due to injury; otherwise, he was a preferred starter for the Buccaneers from 2019 to 2021 and the Jets in 2022 and 2023. In Baltimore, he could serve as a third safety in dime packages and provide valuable injury insurance, particularly for Hamilton. Whitehead can’t replicate the All-Pro’s impact if he goes down, but the veteran can ensure that the Ravens still have some safety experience on the field.
The Ravens also hosted undrafted rookie safety Jordan Riley for a workout, per Wilson. Riley starred at Ball State before transferring to Kansas State for his senior year.
Giants Willing To Let Jaxson Dart Sit Throughout Season?
First-round quarterbacks almost never sit throughout their rookie seasons. The Packers have, of course, executed two such plans since 2005; select other teams have also kept Round 1 QB prospects on the bench — just not many.
The Chiefs did not turn to Patrick Mahomes until Week 17 of his rookie year, and that came in a meaningless season-ender while Alex Smith prepared for a wild-card game. In the rookie-scale contract era (2011-present), some of the other players not to be called upon as non-injury-driven starters as rookies — Trey Lance, Paxton Lynch, Jake Locker — did not pan out. Teams, though, regularly pay lip service to the old-school watch-and-learn method — one that benefited Mahomes in the 2010s and Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer and Chad Pennington in the aughts.
Selecting Jaxson Dart 25th overall (via trade-up with the Texans), the Giants are in an interesting spot. Their refusal to draft Michael Penix Jr., J.J. McCarthy and Bo Nix — after a Drake Maye-based trade-up effort failed — last year preceded a 3-14 season and a dire QB need forming. The team settled on Russell Wilson as its bridge option, as plans to draft one of the scrutinized 2025 passers — after a Cam Ward-based trade-up failed — were well known. The Giants landed on Dart, the second QB drafted, thanks to a push from Brian Daboll.
Daboll has proclaimed Wilson as his starter at multiple junctures, but the potential Hall of Fame quarterback is now on his fourth team in five years. The 36-year-old option also readies to face what is, based on last year’s win totals at least, the NFL’s toughest schedule. The Giants would buck a well-established trend by letting Wilson play ahead of Dart all season, but Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano indicates the team would be “completely fine” if this happened.
Of course, this reality would likely require Wilson to keep the Giants in the playoff hunt. It would be a bit of a stretch to expect the Giants, whose regime is on the hot seat thanks to backing Dave Gettleman‘s preferred QB option (Daniel Jones), to keep Dart benched for too long if it becomes clear they are not a viable playoff contender. How the team handles Wilson and Jameis Winston at the trade deadline in this scenario would be worth monitoring closely as well. Currently, Dart is stationed behind both on New York’s depth chart.
Gettleman had said in 2019 the Giants were OK with the Chiefs model, but the team benched Eli Manning for Jones two games in. Given Wilson’s journey since a 2022 blockbuster trade ended his Seattle stay, it will be a tough ask to prevent Daboll from promoting a player he essentially handpicked.
As detailed in our Giants Offseason In Review piece, the Daboll-Joe Schoen duo not making their own QB investment from 2022-24 would stand to influence Dart’s timeline — especially if Wilson struggles against a tough schedule early. Though, it will be on the Giants’ staff to determine how close the Ole Miss prospect is to game-ready.
Wilson played effectively for the Steelers last season, following a 26-touchdown pass/eight-interception 2023 bounce-back year in Denver. But neither team wanted him back. The Broncos paid a record-smashing dead money sum to ditch Wilson, and the Steelers preferred a few options — Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Justin Fields — over their primary 2024 starter.
This came after a difficult finish to Pittsburgh’s schedule brought five straight losses to close a season that began 10-3. Wilson ranked 21st in QBR in Pittsburgh and 22nd in Denver over the past two seasons; that would be an upgrade for New York, but calls for Dart figure to be loud if the Giants start slowly.
Offseason In Review: Atlanta Falcons
The 2024 offseason put the Falcons’ most significant pieces in place. A year later, Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins are still coexisting. Cousins’ attempts to be released or traded have failed. For now, Atlanta is keeping the high-priced veteran as a disgruntled backup. As the Penix era begins in earnest, the Falcons used their top 2025 offseason resources on defense.
After Atlanta used its 2024 first-round pick on Penix, it doubled down on an area it has been unable to staff for the better part of a decade. The team will hope its two first-round edge rushers can make an immediate difference, as it has now been eight years since the franchise’s last playoff appearance.
Extensions and restructures:
- Reached two-year, $45MM ($38MM guaranteed) extension with LT Jake Matthews
- Agreed on two-year, $30MM extension with RT Kaleb McGary
Before its Cousins retention and OLB draft choices, the Falcons locked down their reliable left tackle. No longer a blindside presence thanks to Penix joining Tua Tagovailoa as the NFL’s only southpaw starting quarterbacks, Matthews nevertheless sits as an important piece to open a new period. This is Matthews’ fourth contract. A spotless track record placed the NFL legacy in position to enter the $20MM O-line club at 33. Matthews has missed one career game, lining up for every Falcons contest over the past 10 seasons.
The 2014 first-round pick protected Matt Ryan‘s blind side for eight years. With Grady Jarrett off the roster, Matthews is the last remaining Falcon from their Super Bowl LI season. None of Matthews’ teammates arrived before 2019; Thomas Dimitroff was midway through his GM tenure when he tabbed Matthews to protect Ryan. That selection did not give the Falcons a top-flight tackle; Matthews has just one Pro Bowl and zero All-Pro accolades on his resume. Despite this and no ties to the current coaching staff or GM, Matthews collected a new deal that came in beyond the Dion Dawkins–Taylor Decker–Garett Bolles tier established last year.
Finalizing this re-up hours before free agency, the Falcons have their LT signed through 2028. Acting early probably helped, as Matthews may have demanded more in light of middling LT Dan Moore Jr. fetching $20.5MM per year a day later. Still, Matthews is on track to enter Week 1 as the NFL’s sixth-highest-paid player at the position.
McGary’s late-summer extension gives the Falcons three O-linemen earning at least $15MM per year; All-Pro guard Chris Lindstrom is at $20.5MM AAV. These contracts join Matthew Bergeron‘s rookie deal and Ryan Neuzil‘s RFA tender on the Falcons’ payroll.
Part of a high-end 2023 crop of free agent right tackles, McGary has held his own despite not being deemed as valuable as Mike McGlinchey or Jawaan Taylor (believe it or not) that year. Pro Football Focus has graded McGary as a top-30 tackle in each of the past three seasons, slotting him 29th last season. McGary’s run-blocking ability has helped Bijan Robinson start fast, after the former first-round tackle’s work boosted Tyler Allgeier during a run-obsessed 2022 Falcons season. He has been an asset, but this deal signified the Falcons do not identify him as an upper-crust RT.
McGary’s AAV jumps from $11.5MM to $15MM, but the latter figure checks in 12th among right tackles. It is interesting McGary opted to lock in money now, as another free agency bid would have probably bettered his situation. McGary has not dealt with major injury trouble, missing just six games in six seasons, but he did turn 30 this year. The Falcons will capitalize on their six-year RT opting not to test the market again.
Free agency additions:
- Leonard Floyd, OLB. One year, $10MM ($10MM guaranteed)
- Divine Deablo, ILB. Two years, $14MM ($6.66MM guaranteed)
- Morgan Fox, DL. Two years, $5.5MM ($3MM guaranteed)
- Easton Stick, QB. One year, $1.34MM ($568K guaranteed)
- Feleipe Franks, TE. One year, $1.44MM ($200K guaranteed)
- Jordan Fuller, S. One year, $1.34MM ($80K guaranteed)
- DJ Chark, WR. One year, $1.3MM ($45K guaranteed)
- Lenny Krieg, K. Three years, $2.98MM ($10K guaranteed)
- Grayland Arnold, CB. One year, $1.17MM
Atlanta eyed the draft as the route out of its edge rusher predicament, but the team first brought in an experienced veteran. Ahead of an age-33 season, Floyd could either act as a bridge for James Pearce Jr. or operate as an experienced rotational piece. Floyd followed Jarrett in landing on his feet following a release. He managed the same AAV his 49ers contract carried.
Floyd received an early San Francisco release despite an 8.5-sack season. That slate continued a stretch as one of the NFL’s steadiest edge rushers. From 2020-24, Floyd has not missed a game and has recorded between 8.5 and 10.5 sacks each season. The Falcons will hope for at least one more productive year from the former first-round pick.
Ryan Pace‘s front office presence presumably impacted Floyd’s path. In place as Bears GM when the team drafted Floyd in the 2016 top 10, Pace has been in the Falcons’ front office since 2022. Terry Fontenot retained Pace, who had also added Eddie Goldman after a Chicago release. Floyd fared better with the Rams, serving as Aaron Donald‘s pass-rushing wingman, and delivered (career-high 10.5 sacks) on a modest Bills deal in 2023. Tallying between 16 and 22 QB hits in the decade’s first five seasons, Floyd — an Atlanta native who attended Georgia — profiles as a strong stopgap for a team that has seen just one 8.5-sack season (Vic Beasley‘s 2016 All-Pro year) since John Abraham‘s 2013 exit.
Deablo joined Tre’von Moehrig, Nate Hobbs and Robert Spillane in relocating from the Raiders’ defense. Deablo did not rival his former teammates’ contracts but has considerable experience. The former third-round pick made 42 starts on his Raiders rookie deal. Deablo tallied snap rates of at least 75% in each of his four seasons and finished with 106 tackles during a 2023 slate that brought the Raiders’ only top-half scoring defense in the past 22 years.
Deablo is undersized (at 223 pounds) but expected to step in for ex-second-rounder Troy Andersen, who opened camp on the Falcons’ active/PUP list due to a knee injury that ended his 2024 season. Andersen is not a lock to open the season on time, which would hurt his contract-year stock and free up a spot alongside Kaden Elliss in Jeff Ulbrich‘s defense.
Mooney joins Andersen on the mend, being set to miss weeks after suffering a shoulder injury early during camp. Chark agreed to terms before that development, pointing to Falcons interest in adding receiver depth. Chark is now on a fifth team in five years, settling as a supporting-cast mercenary. Chark is coming off a down Chargers season, catching only four passes after beginning the year on IR. He did provide solid tertiary work in Detroit (502 receiving yards) and Carolina (525), combining for eight touchdown receptions in that span. The former 1,000-yard Jaguar will be expected to complement Mooney, Drake London and Kyle Pitts, providing a potential fourth option for Penix. But Chark is not viewed as a roster lock.
While Fox and Fuller were Rams teammates, the former did not play for Raheem Morris in Los Angeles. Fox spent the past three seasons as a Joey Bosa–Khalil Mack sidekick, totaling 15.5 sacks as an interior rusher in that span. Heading into his age-31 season, Fox will be in place as a cheap veteran supplementary rusher alongside Floyd, Pearce and Jalon Walker.
Fuller did play under Morris in L.A., working as a starter for the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI-winning team. Pro Football Focus graded the former sixth-round find as a top-20 safety that year, but he has struggled to stay healthy since. A late-season injury kept Fuller out of that Super Bowl, and he missed 14 games in 2022 and eight last season with Carolina. PFF graded Fuller 82nd among safety regulars in 2024; well-versed in a scheme Panthers DC Ejiro Evero uses as well, now profiles as a bridge option for third-rounder Xavier Watts.
Krieg, 22, is a converted soccer player who previously played in professional football in Europe. He drew the attention of NFL scouts when he converted all 14 field goal attempts at the Combine, the only kicker to do so. He and Koo, who is signed to a five-year extension worth $24.25MM, have been competing in camp.
Koo, 31, has been the Falcons’ kicker for the past six seasons. The one-time Pro Bowler remains the favorite, and although his $5.5MM cap number is much higher than Krieg’s ($843K), he would be a candidate to land elsewhere immediately if the untested Krieg wins the job.
Re-signings:
- Mike Hughes, CB. Three years, $18MM ($9.64MM guaranteed)
- Ta’Quon Graham, DL. One year, $2.87MM ($2.87MM guaranteed)
- Kyle Hinton, G. Two years, $5.75M ($2.58MM guaranteed)
- KhaDarel Hodge, WR. Two years, $5.5MM ($2.51MM guaranteed)
- Liam McCullough, LS. Four years, $5.78MM ($1.9MM guaranteed)
- Mike Ford, CB. Two years, $4MM ($1.4MM guaranteed)
- Storm Norton, T. Two years, $3MM ($500K guaranteed)
- Dee Alford, CB. One year, $1.5MM ($230K guaranteed)
- Elijah Wilkinson, OL. One year, $1.42MM ($168K guaranteed)
- Kentavius Street, DL. One year, $1.34MM ($168K guaranteed)
- Brandon Parker, T. One year, $1.17MM
The Falcons have been unable to find a regular No. 2 cornerback opposite AJ Terrell. Even after the Hughes re-signing, the team pursued Jaire Alexander. That suggests some uncertainty regarding Hughes, who transitioned from logging a combined 455 slot snaps from 2022-23 to being a near-exclusive boundary option last season. Hughes played all of one slot snap in 2024. Based on their offseason, the Falcons will ask the former first-round pick to remain in that role opposite Terrell.
PFF graded Hughes’ transition well, ranking him as a top-30 option at corner. This came after a 107th-place ranking in 2023, when he was a part-time starter with Atlanta. This marks Hughes’ best contract since his Vikings rookie deal. He played for $2.25MM in 2022 and played out a two-year, $7MM Falcons pact following that accord.
Alford is still present as a slot option, but the Falcons did not prioritize him, as evidenced from being nontendered (as an RFA) and accepting this light guarantee, and are giving fourth-round rookie Billy Bowman slot time. Still, Alford (69% 2024 snap rate) has handled the role for the team for the better part of his Georgia stay.
Atlanta ranked 22nd against the pass last season. While the team’s pass rush was again an issue, its coverage work outside of Terrell and Jessie Bates does not include much in the way of proven defenders. Beyond Bowman, the team is hoping a similar blueprint can excel at corner in Morris’ second season.
Hodge has continued to prove useful, most notably after his overtime catch-and-run against the Buccaneers brought a walk-off TD. Hodge, 30, is still in place as a backup receiving option. But his special teams contributions represent his primary Atlanta role. That brought Pro Bowl recognition last season. This will be Hodge’s fourth Falcons season. He stands as insurance against one of Atlanta’s starting WRs going down. With Mooney out for the time being, Hodge has played over Chark as a first-teamer.
Notable losses:
- Lorenzo Carter, OLB
- Drew Dalman, C
- Phillip Dorsett, WR (released)
- Ross Dwelley, TE
- Eddie Goldman, DT
- Richie Grant, S
- Antonio Hamilton, CB
- Grady Jarrett, DT (released)
- Matt Judon, OLB
- Kevin King, CB (released)
- Nathan Landman, ILB (nontendered as RFA)
- Rondale Moore, WR
- Riley Patterson, K
- Justin Simmons, S
- Avery Williams, KR
No Falcon came out of Super Bowl LI looking better than Jarrett, who broke through with three sacks of Tom Brady during that otherwise ignominious night for the franchise. That turned into a preview of Jarrett’s Atlanta importance; it preceded two extensions, the second of which a three-year, $49.5MM deal. Jarrett’s pass-rushing production has cooled down, and he spent much of 2024 rehabbing an ACL tear. The Falcons shopped the 10-year veteran, but no trade emerged. A minimal dead money hit ($4.13MM) then came as a result of a release.
The Falcons offered to keep Jarrett on a pay cut, but he bet on a big market being there. Despite the ACL tear and the veteran interior D-lineman entering an age-32 season, he was right. The Bears gave him a three-year, $42.75MM contract that included a surprising $27.25MM guaranteed at signing. This represented one of the softer landings for a cap casualty in recent history.
While Jarrett has been durable (full attendance in all but one of the past six seasons) and earned Pro Bowl nods in 2019 and ’20, his next eight-sack season will be his first. The Falcons will hope Fox can help fill the void created by their longtime D-line anchor’s departure.
