The team’s starter for the past few seasons could have a hot market, and the Falcons may be have to let him go.
Drew Dalman has been a success story for the Atlanta Falcons. Drafted in the fourth round back in 2021, the center played a reserve role in his first season before stepping into the starting job in 2022 on a full-time basis. Over 40 games over the past three seasons, Dalman has been one of the better run-blocking centers in the NFL and has made small but steady strides in his pass protection.
Center is not a position where great players are readily available, so Dalman always figured to have a real market if he made it to free agency in 2025. Now ESPN insider Dan Graziano is reporting that the Falcons are bracing to lose Dalman, who fellow insider Jeremy Fowler says could get a deal somewhere in the ballpark (though not quite as robust) as the four year, $72 million pact Creed Humphrey signed with the Chiefs.
For a team with limited dollars, draft capital, and four other established starters along the offensive line, this isn’t exactly stunning. But despite Dalman’s availability issues the past two seasons—he’s missed a combined 11 games—he’s a reasonably young player who has proven to be a strong fit for this offense. Losing him will open up a major hole on an offense that is otherwise pretty set, meaning the Falcons will have to find a workable contingency plan for 2025 and beyond.
How would the Falcons replace Dalman?
Any such plan is likely to start with re-signing Ryan Neuzil. While he’s not nearly the caliber of run blocker that Dalman is, Neuzil’s pass protection is in the same neighborhood and he was solid in multiple starts in relief of Dalman last year. He’s also going to be fairly affordable given that he’s a restricted free agent; the fact that Neuzil also only converted to center a couple of years ago means he may yet have more upside at the position than we’ve seen.
The fallback plan for a reserve center if the Falcons strike out may well be Jovaughn Gwyn. The former seventh round selection has been marinating on the practice squad for most of the past two seasons, but the fact that he’s held on this long despite getting no playing time and not even a sniff of the active roster despite the team signing options like Matt Hennessy as stopgaps tells you the team genuinely likes. If Neuzil ends up being the plan, it would hardly be shocking to see the team trusting Gwyn’s development and making him the backup.
If that’s not a satisfying one-two punch at center—and there are enough unknowns and hopes there that you can’t really say it is satisfying—then the team can explore free agency and the draft. The free agent pickings are fairly slim, but if the Bears snag Dalman the two teams could essentially swap centers, with the Falcons signing the passable Coleman Shelton to compete with Neuzil. Old friend Wes Schweitzer has logged some time at center in recent years and would be available as cheap veteran competition, too, while Evan Brown from the Cardinals would provide a player who has logged multiple full seasons as a starting center in recent years.
There’s also the draft, where Tre’Shon Diaz has at least one intriguing prospect for the Falcons to take a look at in his piece at noon today. That would give the Falcons a young, relatively cost-controlled starter for a line that will need to replace one or both starting tackles fairly soon, which I imagine would make it the preferred option. The team’s lack of picks might mean they’re looking late Day 2 or even Day 3 options knowing that whoever they draft won’t be ready to start immediately.
In other words, the Falcons have options, but none of them are likely to give them the caliber of play we’ve gotten used to seeing from Dalman. We’ll see what happens, but like the Falcons, we may need to brace for Dalman leaving.