The Falcons may have already found their replacement for retired right tackle Kaleb McGary. Atlanta has agreed to a one-year deal with Jawaan Taylor, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports. The contract carries a $5MM base value and up to $1MM in incentives.
McGary missed all of last season with a knee injury, but expectations were the longtime Falcon would step back into the starting lineup in 2026. Instead, though, McGary walked away from the game on Wednesday. Having already lost 2025 starter Elijah Wilkinson to the Cardinals in free agency, McGary’s retirement left the Falcons dangerously thin at right tackle. It did not take long for the Falcons to find an experienced option in the 28-year-old Taylor, who will presumably start opposite left tackle Jake Matthews next season.
Taylor entered the NFL in 2019 as part of the same draft class as McGary. The Jaguars took Taylor 35th overall, four picks after the Falcons selected McGary. Taylor has since started in all 111 regular-season games, including 66 as a Jaguar over his first four seasons.
Upon reaching free agency in 2023, Taylor left Jacksonville for Kansas City’s four-year, $80MM offer. Then the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Chiefs brought Taylor in to replace Orlando Brown Jr., who signed with the Bengals. Taylor was a 17-game starter in his first year in Kansas City, the most recent title-winning campaign for the franchise. The team went back to the Super Bowl the next season, a 16-start year for Taylor, but the Eagles blew them out.
Taylor had never missed more than one game in a season going into 2025, but a triceps injury held him to 12 appearances. His season officially ended when the out-of-contention Chiefs placed him on IR in late December. Pro Football Focus rated Taylor’s play a subpar 76th among 84 tackles. PFF has never been enamored of Taylor, who topped out at 49th in its rankings back in his rookie season.
With the chance to free up $20MM in cap space, the Chiefs took the expected route and released Taylor in March. Over his three years in Kansas City, Taylor took a whopping 40 penalties. With limited options in free agency, no first-round pick and just five selections in total, the Falcons will gamble on the 6-foot-5, 330-pound Taylor to protect the blind side of a left-handed quarterback. Either Tua Tagovailoa or Michael Penix Jr. will open the season as their starting signal-caller.
well that was fast
Mr Offsides sigh it’s something ig
Maybe McGary wants to be able to walk when he is 50.
People love to hate on Taylor, and I get it, he was a very frustrating and very overpaid player in KC. But he’s also a starting caliber right tackle that a suddenly desperate team scooped up for a few million. Nobody’s dream scenario, but a sensible move.
As of April 2026, former Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor finished the 2025 season with a 53.3 overall PFF grade, ranking 80th out of 89 qualifying tackles. While often regarded as a solid pass protector, his tenure in Kansas City was defined by inconsistent run-blocking (43.8 grade) and a high volume of penalties.
based on PFF he would barely be 1st tackle off the bench and with the team being a running team and him being ranked as 88 out of 89 for run blocking kind of makes for an awkward fit for starter on this team unless they plan on passing more and not utilizing their best weapon in bijan. Personally, I think they could probably draft a better tackle in day 2.
This doesn’t stop them from doing that. But better to go into the draft not being obligated to find a starting tackle when you don’t have a first round pick. Also, a guy’s last season isn’t necessarily the whole truth about him going forward. Maybe he’s off a cliff and will never be useful again. Maybe a change of scenery being coached by Bill Callahan will do him some good.
@Flyby: FYI, but PFF grades are based on scouting/opinions and supplemented by some advanced stats. I wouldn’t place my entire evaluation of a player on them.
Also the reason you see the PFF grades cited so often on Sunday Night Football is because PFF is owned primarily by Cris Collinsworth. Do with that info what you want.
while i agree its not everything but watching him play a few games and leading the league in flags say something. He also didnt get flagged for a lot as well. If they flagged him for every time he was either lined up incorrectly or false start the game probably would still be going now.
There was also a scouting report about where and how he stood especially in the last season and prior seasons that would give away many times if it was a running play to his side probably leads to him being very poor against the run. if i remember correctly it was slightly back off the line, standing, and slight angle. Maybe callahan can fix that but you would think Reid would have done that in the years he was there.
Also spending 5M to not be obligated to have a guy that is a graded as a lowend backup tackle seems a bit much especially when you need a good RT for lefty QB. It like signing Zach Wilson to be your back up qb for 20M so you wouldnt be obligated to draft a qb. I’d probably go more for a Conklin whom i believe is still out there and who if he stays healthy has high upside and is better for the run capitalizing on potentially your biggest strength.
There’s a flag on the play…
Callahan is a really good line coach, I don’t think they would’ve signed him if he didn’t think the potential was there. There’s also a chance they have one particular player targeted in the second round, and Taylor is just the backup plan.