Winners of seven games in four of the past five seasons, the Falcons have both overachieved talent-wise — during the Arthur Smith years, at least — while largely hovering off the radar. After two clear transition years that brought substantial dead money into the equation, the Falcons’ Smith-Terry Fontenot operation has moved to a point where playoff contention — in what looks like the worst division in the weaker of the two conferences — should be expected.
While the Falcons’ quarterback plan overshadows the rest of their 2023 blueprint, Smith’s seat is not as hot as Ron Rivera‘s in Washington. The Commanders’ QB approach most closely matches the Falcons’, but the NFC South presents a better opportunity to try a mid-round signal-caller. And Desmond Ridder is set to enjoy a flashy array of weapons. In addition to the team avoiding a push for a better option under center while upgrading around the incumbent, its moves to improve its defensive situation defined the offseason.
Extensions and restructures:
- Signed G Chris Lindstrom to five-year, $102.5MM extension ($48.2MM guaranteed)
- Created $4.2MM in cap space by restructuring LT Jake Matthews‘ contract
Day 1 of the legal tampering period shaped the Falcons’ offseason. The team reached a few agreements with defensive starters and began its busy day by acquiring Jonnu Smith via trade. But the most expensive transaction transpired minutes later. Four years after going in the first round, Lindstrom secured a guard-record contract.
When the Colts gave Quenton Nelson his $20MM-per-year windfall, that AAV checked in $3.5MM north of any other guard’s. Given Nelson’s accomplishments, it was a bit surprising to see his salary surpassed six months after that Indianapolis contract was finalized. But in a league in which Patrick Mahomes has slipped to the bottom half of the top 10 in QB money, Lindstrom, 26, passing Nelson so soon should not be shocking. While Nelson has three first-team All-Pro nods to Lindstrom’s none, the latter did rate as Pro Football Focus’ top 2022 guard — by a wide margin — to help the Falcons become a top-three rushing team. The salary cap is back on the rise, and Lindstrom also secured $7.2MM more in guarantees at signing compared to Nelson.
This marked a big day for the Boston College alum, who joins Matthews and Kaleb McGary as eight-figure-per-year O-linemen on Atlanta’s roster. With the Falcons planning to build around Ridder’s rookie contract, this monster Lindstrom re-up makes sense. Extending Lindstrom on this level and finding room for the number of defensive additions this offseason brought would probably have been unrealistic had the Browns not lured away Deshaun Watson at the 11th hour last March.
Free agency additions:
- Jessie Bates, S: Four years, $64MM ($36MM guaranteed)
- David Onyemata, DT: Three years, $35MM ($24.5MM guaranteed)
- Kaden Elliss, LB: Three years, $21.5MM ($10.16MM guaranteed)
- Calais Campbell, DL: One year, $7MM ($7MM guaranteed)
- Taylor Heinicke, QB: One year, $7MM ($6.32MM guaranteed)
- Mike Hughes, CB: Two years, $7MM ($3.24MM guaranteed)
- Bud Dupree, OLB: One year, $3MM ($2.49MM guaranteed)
- Mack Hollins, WR: One year, $2.5MM ($910K guaranteed)
- Tre Flowers, CB: One year, $1.23MM ($500K guaranteed)
- Scotty Miller, WR: One year, $1.23MM ($153K guaranteed)
- Tae Davis, LB: One year, $1.23MM ($102K guaranteed)
- Justin Ellis, DT: One year, $1.17MM
- Joe Gaziano, LB: One year, $1.1MM
- Andre Smith, LB: One year, $1.1MM
- Albert Huggins, DL: One year, $940K
After two less eventful offseasons on the acquisition front, Fontenot spent to fill big needs. Safety represented the Falcons’ top upgrade area. Since its Keanu Neal–Ricardo Allen safety tandem split, Atlanta had seemed to be treading water at this position. While Richie Grant remains in position as a starter, the Falcons paid up to acquire an upgrade at the other post. This year’s safety market featured two clear tiers: Bates, then everyone else. Bates, 26, required an AAV that more than doubled every other free agent safety. The Falcons, who came into the tampering period behind only the Bears in cap space, splurged for the five-year Bengals starter.
Juan Thornhill, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Jordan Poyer, Donovan Wilson, Marcus Epps and ex-Bates teammate Vonn Bell all signed deals worth in the $6MM-$8MM range per annum. After playing on the franchise tag, Bates blew away his peers, following Tremaine Edmunds in commanding an action-packed market at a lower-tier position. Bates has missed three career games and arrived in Atlanta after a 14-interception Cincinnati tenure. He added two picks during the 2021 postseason, which also included a tipped pass that set up a Bell INT and led to a field goal that sent the Bengals to Super Bowl LVI.
The Bengals had hoped to re-sign Bell but had long viewed Bates as out of their price range, as their low-guarantee offer revealed before the July 2022 tag deadline. Now, Bates — PFF’s No. 1 overall safety in 2020 — is tied to the fourth-highest safety AAV and the position’s second-highest guarantee.
Beyond Bates, the Falcons’ decision to hire longtime Saints defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen — an ex-Fontenot New Orleans coworker — as their defensive coordinator shaped their defensive payments. Nielsen brought Onyemata, Ellis and Huggins with him from New Orleans. Prior to the Vikings winning out, the Falcons also attempted to reunite Nielsen with defensive end Marcus Davenport. While Davenport defecting to Atlanta as well would have ratcheted up this underrated rivalry, Onyemata and Elliss making Louisiana-to-Georgia treks bring two talents immensely familiar with Nielsen.
Among active players, only Cameron Jordan had spent more time on the Saints’ defense than Onyemata, who was with the team from 2016-22. Onyemata’s arrival predated Nielsen’s in New Orleans, but the new Falcons DC coached the veteran defensive tackle for most of his Saints run. Working as a full-time Saints starter from 2019-22, Onyemata scored a bigger contract at 30 than he did at 27. Playing out a three-year, $26MM deal, the University of Manitoba alum fared well as an inside rusher alongside Jordan. Onyemata notched two five-plus-sack seasons over the past three years and has totaled 48 QB hits over the past four. He will team with Grady Jarrett, who has not enjoyed much in the way of complementary support since Fontenot and Smith arrived.
This Elliss contract could bring nice value for the Falcons, one of the many teams who preferred a midlevel linebacker contract rather than going after Edmunds this offseason. While Trey Hendrickson turned a contract-year surge into a run as one of the game’s best pass rushers, Elliss’ Saints run featured even fewer contributions ahead of his platform year. New Orleans had used Elliss as a starter exactly once before last season. In 2022, however, the former seventh-round pick came out of nowhere to tally seven sacks, 78 tackles and two forced fumbles. PFF ranked Elliss seventh among off-ball linebackers last year.
Nielsen’s familiarity with the walk-year wonder should put him in a better positions to sustain that form, though some risk comes with this agreement. But that is mitigated by the modest sum the Falcons authorized. After having the Deion Jones extension on their books for three-plus years, the Falcons have Elliss’ $7.2MM-per-year deal as their top ILB contract. By trading Jones last season, however, the Falcons are still on the hook for $12.1MM in 2023 dead money.
Two well-known cap casualties followed the ex-Saints to Atlanta. The Falcons are spending $10MM combined on Campbell and Dupree, who profile as stopgaps. Campbell is certainly a more proven player; Dupree plays a position from which the Falcons need more production. Only the Bears finished below the Falcons in sacks last season. Atlanta totaled just 21, with only Jarrett (six) surpassing four.
Dupree, 30, did not live up to the five-year, $82.5MM contract he signed with the Titans in 2021. As the Titans struggled to fill their OLB post opposite Harold Landry, Dupree became since-fired GM Jon Robinson‘s most expensive mistake there. The former first-rounder tallied just seven sacks in two Titans slates, missing 12 games in that span. Nearly three years removed from an ACL tear, Dupree may have one more shot to show he is a starter-caliber rusher. But the ninth-year veteran is a Georgia native who totaled 19.5 sacks during his final two Steelers seasons.
Like Jordan in New Orleans, Campbell has used his 30s to make a decent Hall of Fame case. Making vital contributions in Arizona, Jacksonville and Baltimore, Campbell turned down an opportunity to join a Jets team loading up with vets around Aaron Rodgers. Citing off-field opportunities and a connection with the staff in Atlanta, the 6-foot-8 D-lineman/kick-blocking phenom will accompany Onyemata in taking heat off Jarrett. It will be interesting to see how the Falcons deploy Campbell, who has been expected to play more as a defensive end despite a 300-pound frame. Any edge help the soon-to-be 37-year-old can provide would benefit a Falcons steam still featuring questions here, but Campbell has also made steady impacts as an interior D-line presence.
Although Ridder did not need to win a camp battle like Sam Howell did in Washington, the Falcons still spent high-end backup money on Heinicke. Like the Marcus Mariota contract, this deal gives Atlanta an out after Year 1. But Heinicke, 30, represents insurance against Ridder sputtering. Coming off the street to rejoin Rivera at a time of great need in Washington, Heinicke went toe-to-toe with Tom Brady in a stunningly effective wild-card performance. Over the next two seasons, Heinicke went 12-11-1 as a starter. The Commanders needed him as a full-timer after Ryan Fitzpatrick failed to make it out of the first half in Week 1 of the 2021 season, and after Carson Wentz‘s hand injury, the former UDFA helped the 2022 team rebound from a 1-4 start.
Heinicke brings obvious limitations, but the 6-1 passer’s starter experience provides a safety net should Ridder — an oft-questioned figure this offseason — burn the Falcons for placing so much faith in him. Only two backup QBs topped Heinicke’s $7MM salary last season.
Ahead of his age-30 season, Hollins comes to Atlanta after a surprisingly productive Las Vegas year. With Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller battling injuries and inconsistency, Hollins became the de facto No. 2 target in Josh McDaniels‘ 2022 offense. The Raiders paid up to upgrade this spot, giving Jakobi Meyers $11MM per year to reunite with his former Patriots OC, but Hollins totaled 690 receiving yards and four touchdowns during his Vegas one-off.
The Falcons will take a flier to see if that is an outlier for a player without another 250-yard season on his resume. The seventh-year veteran is in position to start alongside Drake London. In terms of cap allocations, only the Packers have spent less on their receiving corps that the Falcons, who have $15.3MM devoted to this position on their 2023 payroll.
Re-signings:
- Kaleb McGary, T: Three years, $34.5MM ($15MM guaranteed)
- Lorenzo Carter, OLB: Two years, $9MM ($5.25MM guaranteed)
- Bradley Pinion, P: Three years, $8.65MM ($4.33MM guaranteed)
- Keith Smith, FB: One year, $2.35MM ($625K guaranteed)
- Cornell Armstrong, CB: One year, $1.23MM ($153K guaranteed)
- MyCole Pruitt, TE: One year, $1.22MM
- KhaDarel Hodge, WR: One year, $1.2MM
- Parker Hesse, TE: One year, $940K
With Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard franchise-tagged, right tackle stood as this free agency class’ top position. Each of the three anchors agreed to deals on Day 1 of the legal tampering period. While Jawaan Taylor and Mike McGlinchey fetched big-ticket agreements with the Chiefs and Broncos, respectively, McGary’s market did not soar to the same level. During their busy first day on the market, the Falcons found room to retain McGary on a mid-tier accord.
McGary’s $11.5MM AAV is tied for 10th among right tackles — well south of the $20MM and $17.5MM averages Taylor and McGlinchey scored — and his guarantee-at-signing figure sits outside the top 15. This can be traced to McGary’s smaller sample size as a promising blocker. But rather than a “prove it” deal, the Falcons now have McGary signed to a manageable contract through his age-30 season. It perhaps would have made more sense for McGary to accept a “prove it” pact in order to return to free agency after another strong season, but even with Matthews signed for $18.5MM per year, plans to build around Ridder’s rookie deal made this tackle setup palatable for the Falcons.
McGary allowed a whopping 13 sacks as a rookie, and the Falcons declined his fifth-year option in 2022. But the 2019 first-rounder responded with a big contract year, grading as PFF’s No. 4 overall tackle on the strength of an elite run-blocking campaign to this free agency perch. The Falcons may have locked down an ascending talent on the cheap, and if McGary cannot sustain his 2022 form, the $15MM guarantee will not become especially punitive. With high-profile rookie contracts at quarterback and each of its skill positions, the Falcons have smartly invested big dollars in their O-line.
