Obviously the media hype is all about Kirk Cousins. But that's not a roster change yet, as he's still a Falcon. The big stuff is that starters Grady Jarrett, Drew Dalman, and a bunch of other players are gone. Nothing new there for the defense... another effing year, another effing defensive coordinator, another effing scheme change, more effing roster churn. But beyond that brief rant, that's a whole separate post on its own. For now let's take a peek at what the team has done with the position groups on offense... QB: Cousins is still here, and Michael Penix is still tagged as the starter. If anyone cares, we do have Emory Jones for the scout team but no legit number two in place yet if in fact a Cousins trade does happen. (I've noted elsewhere that my choice would be to bring back Desmond Ridder. He'd be dirt cheap, he still has tremendous upside potential, and he has the immediate advantage of knowing most of the key players on the offense already.) RB: Avery Williams signed with Philadelphia. That's no loss at all for the Falcons RB group, as he only played the PR/KR role last year. Atlanta already drafted RB Jase McClellan last year to add depth behind Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, and former practice squad RBs Carlos Washington Jr and Elijah Dotson return. Dotson is one of the prospects that I will be most eager to see in camp and preseason. Small but stocky, fast enough (4.53 at pro day), and has solid receiving skills plus return skills. Atlanta signed WR Jamal Agnew to challenge for the PR/KR role, but keep an eye on Dotson as well. OL: Congratulations to center Drew Dalman for getting the sweet free agency contract from the Bears. He's a good guy and deserves the payday. (My wife got to know him, as he frequently volunteered at the local animal shelter. She had no idea he was a football player.) The other player still unsigned is unfortunately Dalman's backup at center, Ryan Neuzil. He has been tendered as an RFA but hasn't officially signed yet. Neuzil's backup should be Jovaughn Gwyn, who was announced as a center when drafted though he mostly played guard for South Carolina. The good news is that if all goes well with retaining Neuzil, everyone else will also be back. Starters Jake Matthews, Matthew Bergeron, Chris Lindstrom and Kaleb McGary, swing tackle Storm Norton, and backup Kyle Hinton all return along with Gwyn. Versatile backup Elijah Wilkinson (who started at left guard for Atlanta before getting hurt a few years ago) also returns to the team, and veteran backup tackle Brandon Parker has also signed on for added depth. WR: Rondale Moore departed in free agency, but it's hard to say that's a loss as he missed the 2024 season after getting hurt in a joint practice with the Dolphins and never played a snap for Atlanta. Meanwhile... Drake London, Darnell Mooney, Ray-Ray McCloud and KhaDarel Hodge all return, along with last year's draft pick Casey Washington and top prospect Chris Blair plus other returning hopefuls. Basically no change here except that the prospects now have a year of experience and Penix already has a training camp with everyone in the group. Washington and Blair should be fun to watch in preseason to see how they have progressed from last year. TE: Kyle Pitts is often listed in articles as a likely trade candidate, but he and Charlie Woerner are both still here. The team has signed Teagan Quitoriano to replace Ross Dwelley as the third TE, and former QB converted to TE project Feleipe Franks is back for another shot. Overall, the offense hasn't lost anything at all other than Dalman, and even if something bizarre happens with Neuzil, they do have Gwyn waiting in the wings at center. So for now the big questions are what happens at QB2 if / when Cousins does get traded, whether Pitts does indeed become a trade target, and how well the prospects (Washington, Blair, Dotson, Gwyn) develop over the summer.
Atlanta announced on Friday that the club has signed undrafted free agent center Michael Gonzalez. Gonzalez played his college ball at Louisville, appearing in 51 games for the Cardinals. He was a starter at left guard for the last two years, but the team nevertheless announced him as a center. As a corresponding move, the Falcons released offensive lineman Joey Fisher.
The part of the story that is getting the most attention is listing Gonzalez as a center. The twist is that projected starting center Ryan Neuzil is a RFA, was tendered, was NOT offered a competing contract by another team before the deadline, but for whatever reason has still not signed his tender with the Falcons. Anything weird going on here? Or is he just on vacation and taking his time, planning to sign when he shows up for OTAs? Gonzalez was invited to rookie minicamp as a tryout. He was listed as "OL". The article announcing his signing on the Falcons web page today was written by Will McFadden, one of the writers for the web site, and NOT by the front office or the league. A few other outlets, such as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and SI, had separate articles announcing the signing and listed Gonzalez as "OL". So... there might not be much to it other than Gonzalez looked better in the rookie minicamp than Fisher, who wasn't with the team last year and was signed to a futures contract in January. To me that's quite likely - Gonzalez did not allow any sacks in his junior or senior seasons at Louisville, allowing only 17 pressures in 457 pass block snaps last year while starting every game at left guard. Louisville also averaged over 175 rushing yards per game over his last two seasons there. I'll go with the idea that he's developmental depth as an interior offensive lineman for now and that there's not all that much to the idea that he's specifically a center. The team also has Jovaughn Gwyn as the backup to Neuzil, plus 2024 UDFA (ex-Vikings) Matthew Cindric and new UDFA Joshua Gray (Oregon State) as available centers. But until Neuzil actually signs, Falcons fans need to be just a little bit nervous.
I gotta wonder what Neuzil is up to or what is going through his head. Id think the signing of Gonzales would maybe light a fire on his motivation to get going and push for a signing. Gonzales' signing may be just a move to solidify the depth chart incase of Neuzil going complete a-wall. Sounds like a lack of communication with Neuzil and the Gonzales signing is the insurance factor. As for the 'OL' tag, Id think thats just because he's good, young and who knows where his services might be needed. Guy's that can slide up or down the line are very valuable. Train him while he's a young dog, because you know what they say about 'old dogs'.
Other item... SI had an interesting article on seventh round OT Jack Nelson today. It makes you look pretty good for taking him in an earlier round in the first mock even though he slid in the second mock and the real draft. The article was mainly an interview with his 2024 line coach at Wisconsin, talking about what Nelson did to make himself better in 2024 than he was in 2023. But a few other things jumped out at me... he had different line coaches each year from 2021 through 2024 but simply kept working, taking it all in stride, and playing whatever system or scheme or position the coaches asked. The 2024 line coach noted that Wisconsin went towards more outside zone in 2024 and that Nelson excelled at blocking when on the move. The most important parts for me: he played 2 years at right guard, then moved to left tackle for 3 years - so he's accustomed to protecting the blind side and has lots of experience. BUT... the article said Nelson himself claimed he felt more comfortable on the right side and would have played RT at the Senior Bowl had a hamstring tug not kept him out of action that week. So if the Falcons coaching staff can ramp him up to speed quickly as a rookie (perhaps as the swing tackle), he might be ready to step in for Kaleb McGary in 2026. McGary's contract runs out after this season. As a reminder for anyone reading this who didn't know, Falcons QB Michael Penix, Jr is a lefty, so by taking over the RT role, Nelson would become the blind side protector.
I'll throw out a "door number three" possibility... maybe there's nothing wrong at all and everyone is holding off for the moment purely for cap reasons. I'm sure that sounds strange, but seriously - that could easily be the reason. There's no urgency, as the deadline for anyone else to sign him has passed. Atlanta's cap is still tight, and Terry Fontenot might still be looking around at free agency (or potential June 2 cuts) trying to add on one or two more missing pieces, such as perhaps another nose tackle to replace Eddie Goldman or another CB for depth / competition. His one year tender is fully guaranteed once he signs it, but it doesn't count towards the cap at all until the ink hits the paper. They're still a week away from the start of OTAs, and minicamp isn't until June 10. So... no serious urgency yet. It's quite possible that everyone is happy with the tender or that some other deal has been worked out and that they're just waiting until he arrives for OTAs before they add him to the official cap figure.
