Lorenzo Carter posted a lengthy goodbye message to the Giants on Sunday. Less than 24 hours later, the former Day 2 pick has chosen his second NFL employer.
The Falcons are expected to sign him to a one-year deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. After bouncing back from a 2020 Achilles tear last season, Carter hit the market last week. This will be a homecoming for the ex-Georgia Bulldog, who is an Atlanta native.
The Giants, despite their recent regime change, had Carter on their radar. The rebuilding NFC East squad attempted to re-sign him this weekend, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com adds (via Twitter), but it appears the sides were not on the same page.
The former third-round pick joins a Falcons team that is retooling on the edge. The Falcons just shed their Dante Fowler contract, though they received little from their non-Fowler sect of edge rushers last season. The team’s 18 sacks ranked last in the NFL, by 11, last season. Fowler is now with the Cowboys, reuniting with Dan Quinn.
Carter’s one-year Atlanta agreement will give him a chance at a better 2023 free agency payday while also providing the Falcons exclusive negotiating rights until that point, should Carter prove effective. He finished with a career-high five sacks last season and has 14.5 in his career.
Big Blue is still putting its edge pieces together as well. Azeez Ojulari had a nice rookie season, and 2019 third-round pick Oshane Ximines remains on the roster. But the Giants should be a candidate to select an outside rusher with one of their two top-10 picks.
Nick Korte from Over the Cap projects this move to cost the Falcons the compensatory pick they would have gotten for losing Oluokun. Not the sort of move you should be making when you’re committed to a bite the bullet down year.