Falcons To Let Kemal Ishmael Walk
- A Falcons cog for seven seasons, Kemal Ishmael will likely have to find another team in order to continue his career. The seven-year veteran linebacker-safety will not be brought back, according to Ishmael’s agent (via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). The Falcons have shuttled the 28-year-old defender/special-teamer between safety and linebacker and have re-signed him to one-year deals in each of the past three offseasons.
Falcons “Still Deciding” On Takk McKinley’s 5th-Year Option
Falcons head coach Dan Quinn told reporters earlier Tuesday that the team is undecided on whether to exercise the fifth-year option in edge rusher Takkarist McKinley‘s rookie contract, according to Jason Butt of The Athletic Atlanta. Butt first reported that Quinn said the team would decline McKinley’s option just 
after general manager Thomas Dimitroff said the team had yet to make a decision. When Quinn was asked to clarify, he deferred to Dimitroff and said the team was “still deciding.”
McKinley has failed to develop in the way Atlanta hoped when they selected him with the 26th overall pick back in the 2017 NFL Draft. While he has consistently taken the field for the Falcons and put up reasonable production, he has yet to emerge as a legitimate game-changer.
As a rookie, McKinley appeared as a rotational pass rusher in all 16 games and accrued 6.0 sacks. In his sophomore campaign, McKinley started 8 games, recorded 22 tackles, and 7.0 sacks and expectations were he could become a game-changer with time. However, in 2019, McKinley turned in his least productive campaign even while receiving the most playing time of his career (13 starts).
McKinley’s fifth-year option would be above eight figures and would be a very large gamble on a player who has yet to take the next step at the NFL level.
Falcons To Let Hooper, Campbell Test FA
The Falcons would like to re-sign two of their key players, but they won’t stop them from testing the open waters. Tight ends Austin Hooper and De’Vondre Campbell will be permitted to explore free agency, GM Thomas Dimitroff told reporters on Tuesday morning (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 
[RELATED: Falcons To Pick Up Matt Schaub’s Option]
As of this writing, the Falcons have approximately $5MM in cap room. They can carve out more by shedding running back Devonta Freeman, safety Keanu Neal, offensive tackle Ty Sambrailo, defensive lineman Allen Bailey, and other veterans, but their cap situation will be tight regardless. Meanwhile, they have other areas to address, including the secondary.
Hooper took full advantage of his walk year, reeling in 75 catches, 787 yards, and six touchdowns in just 13 games. He’s a dynamic threat at the tight end position with two 70-catch seasons under his belt and it’s expected that he’ll be lavished with big money offers when the bell rings in March. Hooper is still just 25 (he turns 26 in November) and retaining him would require a top-of-the-market deal.
At one point in January, the Falcons and Campbell were discussing an extension. But, over the last few weeks, those talks between Dimitroff and agent Drew Rosenhaus have slowed down. Last year, Campbell led the Falcons in tackles for the second straight year and turned in a perfect attendance record for the third straight season. As a young and elite run-stopper, Campbell may have also priced himself out of Atlanta.
Falcons To Pick Up Matt Schaub’s Option
The Falcons are expected to exercise Matt Schaub’s $2MM option for 2020, a source tells NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). This doesn’t completely guarantee his place on the roster in September, but it’s an indication that they intend to keep the veteran as Matt Ryan‘s backup.
[RELATED: Falcons Move On From Vic Beasley]
Schaub, 39 in June, was thrust into action last year when Ryan suffered his ankle injury. In his first start since the 2015 season, Schaub completed 75% of his passes and threw for 460 yards. Still, the Falcons fell short, losing 27-20 to the Seahawks.
Schaub came back to where it all started in 2016 and signed a two year, $3.78MM extension to stay with the Falcons in 2019. He spent seven years as the Texans starter and collected two Pro Bowl nominations in some of his healthier seasons. Since 2014, he’s served as a backup for the Raiders, Ravens, and Falcons.
The veteran is now slated to come back for another year with a reasonable cap hit of $2.375MM. Meanwhile, the offseason could see the departure of mainstays like running back Devonta Freeman. Unfortunately for them, they’re tight against the cap as they look to overhaul their defense. A new deal for tight end Austin Hooper is on the to-do list, but it might not be feasible to give him a multi-year deal at the top of the market.
Falcons Re-Sign Younghoe Koo, Ryan Allen
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
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
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
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.
Minor NFL Transactions: 2/7/20
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: P Sam Irwin-Hill
San Francisco 49ers
- Re-signed: C Jake Brendel
Falcons Replace Mike Mularkey
- 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.