From role players up front to potential starters in the secondary, the Falcons have options to improve a lackluster roster.
The reaction to the offensive edition of this article yesterday made it clear to me that defense is where many Atlanta Falcons fans want to see all remaining dollars and draft picks spent, and it’s difficult to quibble with that. As promised, let’s talk defense.
While the pickings are a little slim already after most of the big names were snapped up early, the Falcons still can get legitimate starters and helpful role players with any money they free up. That’s particularly true in the secondary, where the Falcons could add a nickel cornerback and starting safety today to give themselves more flexibility heading into the 2025 NFL Draft and make us all feel a lot better about what they’re about to put on the field this coming season.
Here are a few names that make sense for the team.
DL Jonathan Bullard
For a run defense that is setting up to be pretty shaky, Bullard is a sensible signing. The one-time Falcon—he was a 2021 signing—provides sure tackling and good instincts against the run, making him a potential fit to round out Atlanta’s rotation up front. The fact that he’s durable, with 34 games and 29 starts over the past two seasons for Minnesota, would make him a solid early down snap eater while this team brings a young line along.
He’s far from a difference maker, but he should come at a fair price point and provide insurance for injury or a lack of desired development from the team’s young options up front. That’s enough to give him a real look.
DL Calais Campbell
In a thin market, the ageless wonder remains a worthwhile player. At the age of 38, Campbell put up five sacks a year ago and managed five pass deflections, playing at a customarily high level as a rotational option. At some point he’ll choose retirement, but until then, I’m not willing to bet against Campbell being the kind of player who can help any line in the league. Swapping out David Onyemata for Campbell and/or simply adding him to this group would give the Falcons needed help.
DL John Cominsky
A homecoming of sorts. Cominsky was moved around the lineup and lightly used in Atlanta to begin his career, but he carved out a nice niche for himself in Detroit as a reliable run stopper who could generate pressure. He missed the 2024 season with an injury and would need to be healthy, but Cominsky’s well-rounded skill set and versatility—he played all over Detroit’s line in 2022 and 2023—would make him an addition with some actual upside for Atlanta.
DL Mike Pennel
He can play nose tackle and is a better fit for that role than Kentavius Street, who emerged as the team’s option of choice down the stretch, and is a much better run stuffer than he showed during his last stint in Atlanta back in 2021. This would be about filling a niche vacated with Eddie Goldman out of the picture, something the Falcons still need to do even if it’s profoundly unexciting.
EDGE Za’Darius Smith
One of the few high-end pass rushers left on the open market, Smith isn’t likely to be in Atlanta’s price range but would offer Atlanta needed boost. He had nine sacks a year ago for Cleveland and Detroit and like Leonard Floyd, offers reliable pressure with the specter of age leading to injury or decline.
A Smith/Floyd/Arnold Ebiketie trio with Bralen Trice and possibly a rookie would be the highest-upside group the Falcons have had in some time, and while it’s unlikely they’ll get it done, it’s fun to dream.
EDGE Tyus Bowser
Health is the primary concern for Bowser, and it may be that owing to injuries, he’ll never be the seven sack, 40 pressure player he was in 2021 for Baltimore. When he’s on the field, Bowser is still a useful situational pass rushing threat who does enough against the run to avoid being one-dimensional. As a replacement for the likes of James Smith-Williams and Lorenzo Carter, he’d offer more pressure potential with the same kind of concerns about durability.
LB/S Isaiah Simmons
Simmons is coming off a rough season that will likely ensure his market is fairly muted, but his versatility makes him an interesting potential flier.
Simmons has routinely graded out well in coverage before last season, and his experience working at safety and linebacker would make him a potential fit as a combined fourth safety—the Falcons need to determine who S2/S3 is, likely via the draft—and fifth inside linebacker option. The fact that he’s a willing special teamer and not a massive liability as a run defender means he’s about as useful of a back-of-the-roster piece as you can get, though the past two seasons of adventures in tackling will not endear him to fans tired of that particular adventure. That assumes he’s not able to find a larger role elsewhere, naturally.
CB Ahkello Witherspoon
One more time. Witherspoon may not be guaranteed a starting job, but he’s an experienced, quality cornerback who has worked with Raheem Morris in the past and would be able to step in outside should something happen to AJ Terrell or Mike Hughes. The Falcons currently lack an experienced cornerback capable of doing that—I’m confident Clark Phillips can, but again, he’s not that experienced—and Witherspoon is likely their best veteran option who can do so.
Witherspoon is not as necessary if the Falcons plan to draft a cornerback early, giving them a young reserve group with some real upside when you include Phillips and Natrone Brooks. If that’s not a lock, I hope they’ll take a hard look here.
CB Troy Hill
Hill is a logical choice for the Falcons for a few reasons.
The first is that he’s a familiar face, someone the Falcons have seen often from his time with the Panthers, and he overlapped with Raheem Morris with the Rams back in 2022. The second is that he’s worked primarily out of the slot for a long while now, and the team does not have a clear-cut plan for their nickel cornerback at the moment. The third is that despite his age, Hill has remained a solid tackler and coverage option throughout his career, and those are the two biggest problems Atlanta had in their secondary a year ago.
Signing Hill would give the Falcons favorite to start at nickel on day one, but not someone they’d feel compelled to start if they ended up liking Natrone Brooks or Clark Phillips more there. If the team is looking for an upgrade on Dee Alford in the specific areas in which Alford struggled, Hill is a logical choice.
CB Avonte Maddox
Another budget nickel cornerback option, Maddox occasionally mixed in at safety for the Eagles and was a rock solid option in coverage and as a tackler last year, and over his time with Philadelphia, has been one of the more reliable inside options at corner in the league.
The last couple years have seen him playing more sparingly and not quite as well as he did during his best years in 2021 and 2022, but like Hill, Maddox is good enough at the things the Falcons struggled at in the secondary to be well worth pursuing as an Alford replacement.
S Chuck Clark
Clark has a few items working in his favor. He worked with Jeff Ulbrich last year, he’s a credible coverage option at safety who does stellar work against the run, and he typically is a reliable tackler with good instincts and physicality this Falcons defense is starved for. As a still full-time starter heading into age 30 season, Clark isn’t going to be dirt cheap and likely isn’t necessary if the Falcons plan to spend their first round pick on a top safety, but as a veteran stopgap he’s one of the best available options for Atlanta.
S Julian Blackmon
Blackmon is the other one I’d consider worth the money, unless you’re willing to reinvest in Justin Simmons as a bounceback candidate. Younger (he’s heading into his age 27 season) and with a track record as a quality starter with real coverage chops, Blackmon would be a signing that would A) eat up most of what the Falcons clear going forward in terms of cap space and B) look to secure the other safety spot next to Jessie Bates for multiple seasons.
So-so run support abilities aside, Blackmon is good enough to create the kind of safety tandem with Bates that we envisioned Bates/Simmons being in 2024. The secondary could use a semi-splashy signing to really lift a group that struggled last season, and it would be difficult to be angry about Blackmon being that player.