The Falcons spent this offseason collecting players with something to prove, but Azeez Ojulari might be the clearest case of all. Atlanta needed help off the edge after losing Arnold Ebiketie and Leonard Floyd, and with the James Pearce Jr. situation still wildly uncertain, the team went shopping for veteran depth. That led to two additions: Samson Ebukam from Indianapolis and Ojulari from Philadelphia.
Both are expected to slot in behind Pearce and Jalon Walker and help right away. For Ojulari, though, the path back to relevance is tied to one stubborn problem that has followed him for years: staying on the field.
Ojulari’s talent has never been in doubt. His rookie year with the New York Giants looked like the start of something big.
He played every game, started 13 of them, and finished with eight sacks and 42 total pressures. For a moment, he looked like the kind of young pass-rusher a team can build around.
That momentum never really held. The 26-year-old has not played a full 17-game season since, and over the next four years he appeared in only 31 games. He still flashed with 5.5 sacks in 2022 and 6.0 in 2024, but the injuries kept him from turning those bursts into a true breakthrough.
His 2025 stop in Philadelphia was supposed to be a fresh start. Instead, it barely got off the ground. Ojulari played in just three games for the Eagles and didn’t record a sack, and Philadelphia ultimately turned to Ebiketie over him.
The numbers tell the story: 22 career sacks in 49 career games, with 32 starts. There’s still plenty left to unlock there, but this isn’t about squeezing out hidden upside. It’s about whether the injury bug shows up again.
If Ojulari can finally stay healthy in Atlanta, the Georgia native could find real momentum with his hometown team. If he can’t, his career could start drifting toward the what-if category instead of the reliable rotational edge role the Falcons are hoping for.
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That kind of background fits a defense under Jeff Ulbrich that likes to bring pressure and create disruption, and it leaves Atlanta with a real puzzle as it sorts through its linebacker mix. Perkins best path forward may not be obvious right away, but the more he shows as a rusher and a hybrid piece, the harder it becomes to pin down exactly what his long-term fit will be. [Read more 🡒]