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Atlanta Falcons News & Rumors

Falcons Re-Sign Younghoe Koo, Ryan Allen

February 18th, 2020 at 2:37pm CST by Zachary Links

The Falcons have re-upped two key members of their special teams unit. Kicker Younghoe Koo and punter Ryan Allen will return on new one-year deals, per a club announcement.

[RELATED: Looking Back At Roddy White‘s Career]

Last year, Koo flashed his unique onside kick ability, helping Atlanta recover the ball on multiple occasions in crunch time. That included three straight conversions against the Saints on Thanksgiving, if counting the one that was erased by a penalty. He also nailed 15 of his 16 field goal tries, proving that he belongs in the NFL and solidifying his place in Atlanta’s offseason plans.

Last year, Matt Bosher‘s groin injury started a cycle of punters. Allen latched on with the team in November, lost his spot a few weeks later when Bosher returned, then rejoined his old friends in early December when Bosher reverted to the injured reserve list.

In other Falcons news, they’ll have a decision to make on longtime running back Devonta Freeman.

This Date In Transactions History: Roddy White Retires

February 15th, 2020 at 9:55am CST by Ben Levine

Three years ago today, an Atlanta Falcons legend decided to hang up his cleats. We learned on February 15th, 2017 that wideout Roddy White was calling it quits.

Similar to most professional athletes, it didn’t sound like White necessarily went out on his own terms. After having one of the least-productive seasons of his career in 2015 (43 receptions, 506 yards, one touchdown), the receiver struggled to find his next gig. After getting cut by Atlanta, there were rumblings that he’d catch on with the Patriots, but the team ended up opting for Nate Washington (kind of ironically, the Falcons and Pats would meet up in that season’s Super Bowl).

He was approached by the Vikings midway through the 2016 campaign, but the team was out of the playoff picture by the time White was in game shape. The Titans and Buccaneers also expressed interest, but the veteran was content on only signing with a contender. White ultimately sat out for the entire 2016 season, leading to his retirement decision.

White retired having compiled 808 receptions for 10,863 yards and 63 touchdowns. The 2005 first-rounder spent his entire career with the Falcons, making four Pro Bowls and earning a First-Team All-Pro nod in 2010. He also owns a number of franchise records, both for a career (receiving touchdowns, receptions) and for a single game (including most receptions in a playoff game (11)). White was was inducted into the Falcons Ring of Honor this past December.

Falcons Notes: Blank, Quinn, Freeman

February 14th, 2020 at 9:22pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Falcons coach Dan Quinn managed to save his job by rattling off some wins down the stretch last year. If his team has a repeat performance in 2020, he won’t be so lucky. It’s the consensus of just about everyone that Quinn will be fired if Atlanta doesn’t get things turned around next year, and Falcons owner Arthur Blank more or less confirmed as much in recent comments to the media. Blank wouldn’t divulge the exact number of wins he was expecting, but he did say “yep,” when asked if making it back to the postseason was the standard he was setting, via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. “I can definitely say that’s right.”

Blank went on to say some nice things about Quinn and the team’s turnaround in the second half of the season, but it’s clear that Quinn will be on a short leash. Just about everyone thought he was a goner before the Falcons finished the year 6-2, so perhaps he’ll pull a rabbit out of his hat once again. The former Seahawks DC fired both of his coordinators after a lackluster 2018 campaign, and it didn’t help much right away. Matt Ryan is already 34 and Julio Jones is 31, so Blank’s impatience makes a lot of sense as he wants to capitalize on the core that took his team to the Super Bowl just a few short seasons ago.

  • We heard earlier this week that Falcons running back Devonta Freeman could be on the chopping block, and Blank certainly didn’t do anything to quash that story. “Well, I love him, too,” Blank said of Freeman in McClure’s same piece. “But this has nothing to do with love. It has to do with building a roster. The salary cap is not unlimited.” That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, and that doesn’t bode well for Freeman’s chances of sticking on the roster. “Sure, I love what [Freeman] brings to the team. I also know we’ve drafted well and we’ve got some really good backups now today. We’ll see how all that works out,” he continued. Freeman has three years left on the five-year, $41.25MM pact he signed with Atlanta a couple years ago, and he seems increasingly unlikely to be back with the team in 2020. As of right now, it looks like the team will be moving on. The Falcons can save around $3MM against the cap by releasing him, but they’d still be taking a significant dead cap hit by shedding his expected $6.5MM salary.

Falcons Could Move On From Devonta Freeman

February 12th, 2020 at 1:41pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Falcons are heading into a pivotal offseason. Dan Quinn managed to save his job at the last minute with some wins down the stretch, but if he doesn’t get the team back to their winning ways in 2020 he’ll almost certainly be getting the boot. 

Atlanta unsurprisingly appears ready to shake things up in the coming months, and at least one big name is on the chopping block. Running back Devonta Freeman‘s status with the team is “up in the air,” and release is an option, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter video link). As Rapoport points out, the Falcons could save around $3MM in cap space by releasing him outright. We heard back in October that the Lions and Falcons discussed a potential Freeman trade after Kerryon Johnson went down, and Rapoport now reports they “very strongly” considered trading him last year.

Freeman is set to earn a base salary of $6.5MM in 2020 with a cap hit of $9.5MM, and the Falcons would take a significant dead cap hit even though they’d also save some money. He inked a five-year, $41.25MM deal back in August of 2017, making him one of the league’s highest-paid running backs, and so far it hasn’t worked out too well.

He has struggled to stay healthy, appearing in only two games in 2018. Freeman, who turns 28 next month, has three years left on his deal but seems very unlikely to make it to the end of the pact. If he were released, the two-time Pro Bowler wouldn’t have too much trouble finding a new home. The Falcons have Brian Hill and very little else behind him, so they could be a candidate to draft a running back early come April if they do move on from Freeman.

Falcons Replace Mike Mularkey

February 6th, 2020 at 8:57pm CST by Sam Robinson
  • Mike Mularkey‘s retirement left a vacancy on the Falcons‘ staff. They filled it by promoting Ben Steele from offensive assistant to tight ends coach, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes. Steele spent five seasons with the Buccaneers — the final two as Tampa Bay’s tight ends coach — prior to joining Dan Quinn’s staff last year.

Falcons Eyeing LG Help

February 3rd, 2020 at 9:17pm CST by Rory Parks

Falcons owner Arthur Blank recently brought up his team’s need for help at left guard, as Albert Breer of SI.com points out. Breer believes the mere fact that the owner is getting into the specifics of O-line upgrades in the offseason is indicative of how critical that unit will be for Atlanta next season.

Of course, the Falcons invested two first-round picks in the offensive line in 2019, when they drafted Chris Lindstrom with the No. 14 overall pick and Kaleb McGary with the No. 31 overall selection. Lindstrom, a right guard, injured his foot in the season opener and ultimately played in only five games, and though McGary started all 16 contests, he struggled, yielding a league-high 13 sacks from his right tackle position.

Still, those two will enter the 2020 campaign as the starters on the right side of the line and will hope to live up to their draft status. The fact that Blank brought up left guard is somewhat interesting, as the Falcons signed LG James Carpenter to a four-year pact last offseason and he started the team’s first 11 games before succumbing to a season-ending concussion. The Falcons would save a minimal amount of money by cutting Carpenter, though they could certainly keep him around as an experienced backup and seek an upgrade.

But such an upgrade may need to come via the draft again, as Atlanta is right up against the salary cap. If GM Thomas Dimitroff does find the room to acquire a free agent, players like Brandon Scherff or Andrus Peat could be in play.

2020 Draft Order

February 3rd, 2020 at 2:54pm CST by Sam Robinson

Super Bowl LIV is in the books, which means the order for the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft is set. By virtue of their 31-20 win Sunday night, the Chiefs will have the final pick in the first round. The 49ers dropping to 5-2 in Super Bowls will result in the NFC champions approaching the podium at No. 31.

Here is the full first-round order:

1. Bengals (2-14)

2. Redskins (3-13)

3. Lions (3-12-1)

4. Giants (4-12)

5 Dolphins (5-11)

6. Chargers (5-11)

7. Panthers (5-11)

8. Cardinals (5-10-1)

9. Jaguars (6-10)

10. Browns (6-10)

11. Jets (7-9)

12. Raiders (7-9)

13. Colts (7-9)

14. Buccaneers (7-9)

15. Broncos (7-9)

16. Falcons (7-9)

17. Cowboys (8-8)

18. Dolphins (via Steelers 8-8)

19. Raiders (via Bears 8-8)

20. Jaguars (via Rams 9-7)

21. Eagles (9-7)

22. Bills (10-6)

23. Patriots (12-4)

24. Saints (13-3)

25. Vikings (10-6)

26. Dolphins (via Texans 10-6)

27. Seahawks (11-5)

28. Ravens (14-2)

29. Titans (9-7)

30. Packers (13-3)

31. 49ers (13-3)

32. Chiefs (12-4)

Falcons To Move On From Vic Beasley

February 3rd, 2020 at 12:24pm CST by Zachary Links

This is the end of the line for the Falcons and Vic Beasley. On Monday, the club announced that they will not pursue a new deal with the defensive end, who is scheduled for free agency in March. 

“As we continue to craft our 2020 roster, we’d like to thank Vic for five years of effort on behalf of our organization,” Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff said in the statement.

Beasley, 27, just wrapped up the fifth-year option on his rookie deal. The Falcons were hoping to see more from him in 2019, but he was unable to get back to his old form.

Beasley broke out in his sophomore year as pro, recording a league-high 15.5 sacks in 2016. However, things have cooled off ever since – he notched five sacks in 2017 and 2018. This past season, Beasley finished out with eight sacks, though that number was bolstered by a disproportionally strong finish in the final quarter of the regular season.

The Falcons will need to replace Beasley this offseason while potentially retooling the rest of their front seven. Fellow defensive end Adrian Clayborn is scheduled for free agency and defensive tackle Jack Crawford is also on an expiring deal.

They’ll have other issues to tackle as well. Among their top priority items – negotiating a new deal with tight end Austin Hooper, who is coming off of his best statistical season as a pro.

South Notes: Tannehill, Texans, Falcons

February 1st, 2020 at 6:06pm CST by Sam Robinson

The refrain during the final several weeks of the Titans‘ season pointed to either a Ryan Tannehill extension or franchise tag. But the resurgent team may not be entirely committed to the ex-Dolphin yet. The Titans have not decided Tannehill is worth a $27MM franchise tag or a franchise QB-level salary, Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com note. Tannehill is open to a long-term Titans deal, and the sides began discussing an extension late in the season. After the quarterback’s surprising stretch to help the team to the AFC title game, it would be surprising if he were allowed to hit the market. But the Titans do have Derrick Henry as a franchise tag candidate and four-year right tackle starter Jack Conklin set for free agency as well. The Titans have some major decisions to make in the next few weeks. Teams can use their franchise and transition tags this year, if there is no new CBA in place by the time the tag window opens February 25. Teams have from Feb. 25-March 10 to apply tags.

Here is the latest from the South divisions:

  • Among their free agents, Austin Hooper appears to be the Falcons‘ top priority. De’Vondre Campbell is on the team’s re-up radar as well. Vic Beasley‘s future in Atlanta is less certain. The former first-round pick earned All-Pro acclaim in 2016 but fell off the radar for years after that dominant season. “Well, Vic played at a different level in the back half of the year than the first half of the year,” Arthur Blank said, via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. “What changed for him, I’m not exactly sure. And whether or not we can have that kind of consistency with him when it matters, only time will tell.” A trade candidate at the deadline, Beasley finished with four sacks in his final four games to record eight this season.
  • Falcons safety Ricardo Allen underwent shoulder surgery recently, Jason Butt of The Athletic tweets. The veteran defender played through a shoulder malady late in the season. He will require a multiple-month rehab process, which could delay his participation in the Falcons’ offseason program.
  • The Texans added multiple staffers to lower-level positions, bringing in Deon Broomfield as a defensive assistant and DeNarius McGhee as a quality control coach, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Broomfield coached cornerbacks at Indiana State for the past three years, while McGee coached quarterbacks and running backs at Montana State in that span.
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