Takkarist McKinley - Pro Football Rumors

Falcons Waive DE Takk McKinley

November 9th, 2020 at 3:19pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Takk McKinley‘s time with the Falcons has come to an end. Atlanta has waived the defensive end, a former first-round pick, they announced Monday afternoon.

It was widely reported that the Falcons were shopping the pass-rusher ahead of last week’s trade deadline, but last Monday McKinley announced he wouldn’t be traded, saying Atlanta turned down a handful of offers for him. If that’s true, then it’s pretty strange the Falcons would have chosen not to take some draft compensation only to cut him loose a week later. We heard last week that the team had been seeking a fourth-round pick for him in trade talks.

The 26th overall pick of the 2017 draft, McKinley will now be subjected to waivers and any team can claim him. He’s only owed a little under $900K for the rest of the season, so there’s a good chance we see a team submit a claim this week. Since the Falcons declined the fifth-year option on his contract back in April, he’s set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.

If he isn’t claimed, there figure to be a number of interested suitors on the free agent market. There are a handful of contending teams who could use edge rushing help including the Titans, who just released Vic Beasley and are dealing with an injury to Jadeveon Clowney, and the Seahawks, who did already trade for Carlos Dunlap.

The UCLA product entered the league with a lot of fanfare, but like most recent Falcons defensive draft picks, he didn’t pan out in Atlanta. He had six sacks as a rookie and seven the next year, but regressed to 3.5 last year despite starting 13 games and appearing in 14. He was only playing a part-time role in the four games he played with them this year, racking up eight tackles, seven quarterback hits, and one sack.

He only turned 25 last week, and still has a lot of theoretical potential. He blasted the team on social media this week for not trading him and allegedly turning down past deals on the table, making the situation untenable. He’ll likely benefit from a fresh start, and it’ll be interesting to see where he lands. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear something.

Trade Notes: Packers, McKinley, Alexander

November 3rd, 2020 at 7:44pm CST by Ben Levine

We heard earlier today that the Packers were eying Texans wideout Will Fuller, but there were reportedly disagreements among high-level Packers officials on whether they should make a play for a receiver. While head coach Matt LaFleur said he was unsure if “anything ever got that serious,” he was sure that he’s on the same page with general manager Brian Gutekunst.

“I have no idea where anything like that would ever come from,” LaFleur said of the reports (via ESPN’s Rob Demovsky). “We’re in constant communication, we’re on the same page and there is no truth to that. I promise you that.”

While receiver Davante Adams expressed confidence in his teammates, he previously acknowledged that he’d welcome some help at the position.

“I wouldn’t say we necessarily need to, because I think we’ve shown what we can do,” Adams said. “When I went down, guys stepped up and did what they had to do. Stepped up big. I wouldn’t say it’s a need. Obviously, I’ve said this before, I don’t think it’s any secret that could help us potentially. I wouldn’t be opposed to it. It could help us. But I definitely got full faith and trust in my guys here to be able to get it done.”

As Demovsky notes, the Packers could be getting some reinforcement at the position, as receiver Allen Lazard could return this weekend. The 24-year-old had eight catches for 146 yards and one score in Week 3, but he’s been sidelined since undergoing core muscle surgery.

Some more trade notes from around the NFL:

The Falcons were seeking a fourth-round pick for defensive end Takkarist McKinley, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (via Twitter). We heard last week that the former first-rounder was on the trade block, but the 25-year-old declared last night that he wasn’t going anywhere. McKinley has compiled only eight tackles and one sack in four games this season, and he hasn’t played more than 40-percent of his team’s defensive snaps since Week 1.
After acquiring defensive end Yannick Ngakoue in a preseason trade with the Jaguars, the Vikings traded the veteran to the Ravens back in October. ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes that the trade conditions from the conditional fifth-rounder that Minnesota sent Jacksonville still apply. That fifth-rounder will turn into a fourth-rounder if Ngakoue goes to the Pro Bowl (with the Ravens). It’s worth noting that the Vikings received a conditional fifth-rounder in their trade with Baltimore, and there’s a good chance that selection contains many of the same conditions.
The pick the Dolphins received in the Isaiah Ford trade with the Patriots is a conditional sixth-rounder, tweets Jeff Howe of The Athletic. Howe adds that the pick could turn into a seventh-rounder if the conditions aren’t met.
The conditional fifth-round pick that the Saints sent the 49ers in the Kwon Alexander trade has a bit more intrigue. The MMQB’s Albert Breer tweets that it’s a 2022 pick that’s heading to San Francisco, although that could turn into a 2021 selection based on “play-time markers.”
Cowboys receiver Michael Gallup was presumably never on the block, as VP Stephen Jones said last week that the organization wouldn’t be trading the 24-year-old (via The Athletic’s Jon Machota on Twitter). Following a breakout 2019 campaign, Gallup has disappointed a bit in 2020, hauling in 26 receptions for 432 yards and one score through eight games (seven starts).

Falcons DE Takkarist McKinley Says He Won’t Be Traded

November 2nd, 2020 at 5:14pm CST by Ben Levine

The Falcons aren’t trading Takkarist McKinley…according to Takkarist McKinley. The defensive end took to Twitter this evening and said he’ll be staying in Atlanta.

“The Atlanta Falcons aren’t trading me,” McKinley tweeted. “They have declined a handful of offers.”

Of course, this could mean nothing, and the Falcons front office may currently be rolling their eyes as they continue to field calls for the defensive end. Alternatively, McKinley could also be passing along information he’s received firsthand from the front office (of course, we’d be wary of even taking that at face value).

If true, this will be a change of course from what we heard a few days ago. Last Wednesday, there were reports that the Falcons had discussed offers for the former first-rounder, and some teams were convinced he’d be dealt prior to tomorrow’s trade deadline.

Instead, it’s sounding like the 25-year-old will stick in Atlanta, at least for the time being. After declining his fifth-year option this past offseason, there’s a good chance the two sides go their separate ways in 2021. After all, McKinley has generally disappointed since being selected with the No. 26 pick in the 2017 draft.

While he combined for 13 sacks through his first two seasons in the league (not including a pair of playoff sacks during his rookie campaign), the defensive end managed only 3.5 sacks in 2019. He’s compiled only eight tackles and one sack in four games this season, and he hasn’t played more than 40-percent of his team’s defensive snaps since Week 1.

Falcons To Trade Takkarist McKinley?

October 28th, 2020 at 11:27am CST by Zachary Links

The Falcons have had trade talks about defensive end Takkarist McKinley and other teams believe he’ll be moved before the Nov. 3 deadline, according to sources who spoke with NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). Nothing is imminent at this moment, but the Falcons could very well find a trade for the former first-round pick between now and Tuesday.

McKinley, who has been out of practice this week with a groin injury, has not lived up to expectations since being taken with the No. 26 overall pick in 2017. In his first two seasons, he managed a combined 13 sacks, but he started to regress in 2019. Last year, he finished out with just 3.5 sacks in 15 games. Then, he finished the year on IR thanks to a shoulder injury in December. The Falcons declined his 2021 option this offseason. That would have tied McKinley to the team through 2021 at a rate of $10MM, guaranteed only for injury.

So far this year, McKinley has notched just one sack and eight total stops in four games. But, for all the question marks, the talent and potential is still there.

Falcons Decline Takkarist McKinley’s Option

April 29th, 2020 at 11:41am CST by Zachary Links

The Falcons have turned down Takkarist McKinley‘s fifth-year option, according to a tweet from the edge rusher. With that, the 2017 first-round pick is now set to enter his final year under contract in Atlanta.

This was the expected move – McKinley has not lived up to expectations since being selected with the No. 26 overall pick. In his first two seasons, he did manage a fair amount of sacks – a combined 13 QB takedowns between his first two seasons. Last year, however, he seemed to regress. McKinley finished out with just 3.5 sacks in 15 contests. He also finished the year on IR thanks to a shoulder injury during the Falcons’ upset victory over the Niners in December.

The Falcons gave up a third-round pick in order to move up five spots for the UCLA product. That didn’t pan out, but McKinley’s not the only Thomas Dimitroff draft pick that hasn’t flourished. In February, the Falcons cut ties with Vic Beasley, who had just finished up his own fifth-year option season.

McKinley’s 2021 option would have been guaranteed for injury only, a risk the Falcons were not willing to take. That additional year would have paid him upwards of $10MM – far too pricey given all of the question marks.

This year, the Falcons hope to see better edge results from Dante Fowler Jr., who joined the club on a three-year, $48MM deal in March. The former Ram is coming off of his best season ever, with career highs in tackles (58), sacks (11.5), passes defended (six), and forced fumbles (two).

Falcons “Still Deciding” On Takk McKinley’s 5th-Year Option

February 25th, 2020 at 5:59pm CST by Marc Delucchi

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’ Takk McKinley Done For The Year

December 16th, 2019 at 2:48pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

This time of year a lot of players are getting shut down for the season, and we’ve got another notable one to pass along. Falcons pass-rusher Takk McKinley is done for the year, head coach Dan Quinn announced Monday.

He apparently suffered a shoulder injury during Atlanta’s upset win over the 49ers yesterday. The Falcons drafted McKinley 26th overall out of UCLA back in 2017. He’s been up and down during his three years as a pro, showing plenty of flashes but failing to put it all together consistently. His playing time has increased each year he’s been in the league, but despite playing the highest rate of snaps in his career this season, his sack production went down.

He had six as a rookie and seven last year, but will finish the 2019 campaign with only 3.5 in 15 games. Two of those came two weeks ago in a win over the Panthers. It’s been a disappointing season for Atlanta’s defense, and now they’ll be leaning even more heavily on Adrian Clayborn and Vic Beasley to provide some pressure over the final couple of games.

NFC South Notes: Panthers, Falcons, Bucs

May 30th, 2019 at 9:54pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Although initial reports indicated Gerald McCoy‘s visit with the Panthers would begin on Thursday, he’ll actually begin meeting with the club on Friday, tweets Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. The Ravens and Browns have already hosted McCoy, and despite a slew of other reported interest, it appears McCoy will decide between Baltimore, Cleveland, and Carolina, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com suggests (Twitter link). McCoy, 31, has reportedly drawn offers as high as $11MM per year, although that figure is difficult to believe at face value, especially given Ndamukong Suh — McCoy’s replacement in Tampa Bay — collected only $9.25MM on a one-year deal.

Here’s more from the NFC South:

The Panthers are planning to run more 3-4 looks on defense, at least when they’re in base on early downs, as David Newton of ESPN.com writes. Rumors of a scheme change in Carolina have been bubbling for months, but head coach Ron Rivera hadn’t yet confirmed the move. Per Newton, the Panthers began experimenting with 3-4 fronts after Rivera took over play-calling for the final month of the season. According to Warren Sharp’s personnel data, Carolina ranked near the bottom of the league in 2018 in facing three-plus receivers — if that trend continues next year, the Panthers will spend a good deal of time in their new 3-4 base defense.
Defensive end Takkarist McKinley has been experimenting at linebacker during the Falcons‘ organized team activities, reports D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. McKinley, a first-round pick in the 2017 draft, has been lining up over the tight end on certain plays. “There will be some packages where can be a linebacker,” head coach Dan Quinn said. “The value in that (presents the question of) is he a rusher or is he a dropper?” The 23-year-old McKinley posted eight sacks and 50 pressures on 617 snaps last season.
Cam Newton has continually expressed optimism that he’ll be ready for training camp after undergoing offseason shoulder injury, and the Panthers quarterback recent took a step in the right direction. Newton has begun throwing a regulation size football, per Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer. The 30-year-old signal-caller sat out the final two games of the 2018 season while dealing with shoulder pain that eventually led to his operation.
New director of athlete performance Greg Skaggs will head a sports science department on the Buccaneers‘ staff, tweets Greg Auman of The Athletic (Twitter link). Skaggs and his crew will work on training and conditioning techniques in an effort to “optimize player health and production.”

Police Detain Falcons DE Takk McKinley

January 15th, 2019 at 7:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

An unspecified situation Tuesday at a Los Angeles hotel led to police detaining Falcons defensive end Takk McKinley, TMZ reports.

McKinley was not arrested and is undergoing mental evaluation.

A friend of the Atlanta defender believed it was in his best interests to get help on Tuesday afternoon, and the police on scene concurred. McKinley ended up cooperating and leaving a high-end hotel with police, according to the website. Dan Quinn addressed the situation.

“We were recently made aware of the situation involving Takk in Los Angeles earlier today,” Quinn said in a statement. “Any time a situation occurs that is or could be related to mental health issues we take it very seriously. We will do everything we possibly can to support and assist Takk as our players’ mental and physical well-being are always our top priority.”

The 23-year-old defensive end just finished his second season with the Falcons. A UCLA alum and 2017 Falcons first-round pick, McKinley started eight games this season, the first such assignments of his career, and led the Falcons with seven sacks.

Injury Notes: Titans, Mariota, Falcons, McKinley, Colts, Doyle, Eagles, Ajayi

September 21st, 2018 at 9:41pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Marcus Mariota‘s injury remains a mystery. It hasn’t been disclosed exactly what he’s dealing with although it has reportedly caused him to lose some feeling in his hand. Blaine Gabbert started, and won, for the Titans last week, and it’s possible he’s asked to do so again this week against the Jaguars.

Titans coach Mike Vrabel told reporters that he would make the decision between Gabbert and Mariota within the next “24 hours” and that he would let them know then according to Jim Wyatt of the Titans’ official website (Twitter link). If Mariota can’t go it would be a huge blow for Tennessee against the league’s top defense. One thing that could make their matchup a bit easier is that Jalen Ramsey was added to the injury report Friday with an ankle injury, although it’s unclear if he’s in any danger of missing the game.

Here’s more injury updates from around the league:

The Falcons just can’t seem to catch a break. It was already known they’d be without Devonta Freeman and several other starters, but it was announced today that they’d also be without talented pass-rusher Takkarist McKinley. McKinley is currently dealing with a groin injury.
The Colts will be quite shorthanded for their trip to Philadelphia as the team ruled out tight end Jack Doyle, running back Marlon Mack, defensive tackle Denico Autry, and right tackle Anthony Castonzo. Doyle’s injury is a big blow, as he formed an effective tight end duo with Eric Ebron through the first two games.
The Eagles will also be significantly shorthanded on offense, with their backfield being particularly banged up. Running backs Jay Ajayi and Darren Sproles have been ruled out, while Corey Clement is questionable. If Clement isn’t able to go, the running back situation would be dire. Alshon Jeffery is questionable, but reporters have written that he’s very unlikely to play.