This is The Gridiron Review’s Atlanta Falcons 2023 Offseason Team Breakdown. We provide you with all things you need to know about the Falcons heading into FA and the draft. We also provide our thoughts on the needs of the team and how we think they can be addressed!
Atlanta Falcons 2022 Record: 7-10
Atlanta Falcons Salary Cap(According to Spotrac): $56,528,608
Notable Free Agents(According to Spotrac):
- Olamide Zaccheaus, WR
- Kaleb McGary, OT
- Lorenzo Carter, OLB
- Rashaan Evans, ILB
- Nick Kwiatkoski, ILB
- Isaiah Oliver, CB
- Rashad Fenton, CB
Team Needs: WR, OL(Primarily Depth… maybe an upgrade), DL, ILB(Depth), CB, S
3 Free Agent Targets(In No Order):
- Mecole Hardman, WR
- Irv Smith Jr., TE
- Da’Ron Payne, DL
Atlanta Falcons First Round Pick(s): Pick 8
3 Draft Prospect Fits/Targets:
- Quentin Johnston, WR, TCU
- Christian Gonzalez, CB, Oregon
- Christopher Smith II, S, Georgia
Our Falcons Ideal Offseason Plans/Thoughts:
- The Falcons traded away their previous WR1, Calvin Ridley, at the trade deadline. With the exception of London, their WR core is a bunch of guys that would be backups pretty much anywhere else. They need to hit the receiver position more than once. They could go after a deep threat and gadget player in Mecole Hardman in FA, then they could target TCU WR Quentin Johnston or Boston College WR Zay Flowers at pick 8. We know people aren’t going to like this because they already have a big WR in London and just spent a top ten pick on him, but Johnston and Flowers would both bring a whole different skill set than London.
- With the offensive line, a goal should be to re-sign McGary who we heard had a pretty good year. The interior of the line and the depth could be addressed, but it’s not bad enough to address it at pick 8.
- The defensive line outside of Grady Jarrett isn’t great. They are the perfect team with the need and the cap to make a big offer to Da’Ron Payne, who would help take the pressure off of Jarrett.
- Atlanta is lacking a big time pass rusher at OLB, but we feel like they’ve invested enough draft capital into the OLB position that they may just rotate to increase production. They will most likely be out of the running for Murphy and Anderson at pick 8. Maybe a late day 2 or day 3 edge player is in the cards, but nothing early unless someone falls. At ILB they have Anderson and Walker, but no depth or much experience. They will need to bring in at least 1 or 2 reserve players at some point. Evans and Kwiatkoski could be candidates to return as well.
- The Falcons secondary actually isn’t bad, but they are lacking a legitimate CB2 across from Terrell. Casey Hayward isn’t a bad option, but he is aging, and with the Falcons being a relatively young team you would think that they would want to find a young CB to pair with Terrell for the long term. We like Christian Gonzalez as an option at pick 8 if they decide not to go WR. At safety they have two young players in Grant and Hawkins, but neither is a true free safety. If somehow Chris Smith falls out of the first round, they could look to target the “hometown” kid in the early second to fill the FS position. You could play Smith at FS, Hawkins at SS, and move Grant down to the NB position to fill the void being left by Oliver who’s a FA.
- UPDATE: Marcus Mariota has been released shortly after the combine… Are they intrigued by one of the QBs in this year’s class? Is Ridder going to get a full year with a different veteran backup?
- UPDATE: Lorenzo Carter signs a 2 year, $9 million extension. Hard to imagine they take another edge player until late in the draft.