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.
There’s a flag on the play…