The Falcons are deep into a season that feels less like a sprint and more like a long evaluation, and a few of their 2027 free agents are making that process easier to sort through. Atlanta has already tied up major long-term money with Drake London, Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts, Matthew Bergeron, and Gervon Dexter Sr., which makes an in-season spending spree unlikely. So with the roster mostly set for now, the focus shifts to who actually earns another run in 2027.
Some of the early answers are getting clearer.
Divine Deablo’s situation is trending in the wrong direction. His afternoon against the Bears ended early because of an arm injury, and that came after he had already been dealing with knocks for much of the past couple of weeks.
He did flash with a few run stops before leaving, but coverage was not his cleanest work, even though that was supposed to be a strength for the former safety. He fits more naturally as a box linebacker anyway, but with rookies Kendal Daniels and Harold Perkins Jr. looking like the future of that room, Deablo is starting to look expendable in Atlanta.
That isn’t really on him. He remains a quality linebacker, but there’s less certainty now that his next paycheck comes from the team that has him right now.
The secondary picture is more complicated, especially when it comes to the pair of safeties set to hit free agency this spring. Sydney Brown and Jessie Bates III are both in that group, and Atlanta may not be able to keep both.
Brown is the more intriguing case because he can play safety and nickel corner, and he has stood out as a run defender. Against the Bears, Brown and Bates each finished with seven tackles, five of them solo.
That matters because Bates played more than twice as many snaps as Brown did. The trade that brought Bates in has already paid off and helped the Falcons land two standout linebackers, but it also raises the question of whether the team wants to commit $20 million a year to a player who will turn 30 after the season when Watts is there as a possible next step.
If Atlanta wants younger and more versatile help on the back end, Brown has made a case to get more work next to Watts.
Up front, Jawaan Taylor has gone from encouraging to shaky in a hurry. Early in his Falcons run, he looked like he might be settling in and giving the team a reason to think about keeping him around.
Over the first five weeks, he stepped in for Kaleb McGary and handled Michael Penix Jr.’s blindside protection at a high level, ranking fifth in the NFL with a 92% pass-block win rate during that stretch. Week 6 against the Bears changed the tone.
Taylor gave up six pressures and two sacks, and on the play where Penix lost the ball, he never really tried to get into the fight with any defender, especially Kyler Gordon, who beat him quickly on the blitz for the strip sack. Only two offensive linemen in the league allowed more pressures than Taylor in Week 6, and his 30.5 pass blocking grade was the worst among all tackles.
Atlanta’s takeaway from that has to be simple: it needs tackle insurance in the 2027 draft, because he did not handle that blitz well at all.
Then there’s Olamide Zaccheus, whose role has shrunk to the point where even his spot on the depth chart feels misleading. Listed as the WR3, he’s really closer to the fifth option behind Drake London, Jahan Dotson, Kyle Pitts, and Bijan Robinson.
That means the ball does not come his way often, but even that limited usage hasn’t produced much. Against his former team, Zaccheus was targeted a season-high four times and came away with no catches, giving him back-to-back games without a stat on offense.
He also had a drop that likely would have moved the chains, and on a punt return he failed to signal for a fair catch, leaving Atlanta to start deep in its own end. His 18.2% drop rate is the highest of his career, and the Falcons may be ready to hand those slot reps to Zachariah Branch instead of bringing Zaccheus back in 2027.
In Other News...
Falcons Young Core Faces A Brutal Week 7 Measuring Stick
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San Francisco is the kind of opponent that can expose every weak spot, especially when a team is still learning how to handle pressure on both sides of the ball. The 49ers are being treated as the standard in this forecast, and for Atlanta, the bigger question may not be whether it can spring an upset in this spot, but what the Falcons can learn from a game that already looks like one of the toughest on their schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Offense Has One Frustrating Shift Fans Can't Ignore
After a promising start, the Falcons have suddenly dropped two straight, and the frustration around the offense is starting to feel familiar for a team trying to build something around Michael Penix Jr. Atlantas early success came with a run-first approach that kept the attack balanced and gave the rookie quarterback a steadier rhythm, but the recent slide has invited sharper scrutiny of how the offense is being called and whether it has drifted from what was working.
Tommy Rees is now at the center of that conversation, with his play-calling drawing criticism for moving away from the scheme that helped the Falcons find their footing. The bigger concern for Atlanta is not just that the offense has cooled, but that key pieces are not being used in a way that maximizes what they do best, leaving fans wondering why a unit that looked so efficient not long ago has become so hard to trust. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Pass Defense May Force A Deadline Move They Can't Dodge
After the loss to the Bears, the Falcons pass defense is looking like the sort of problem that can force a front office into action before the deadline. Atlanta expects help back soon with A.J. Terrell and James Pearce Jr. on the way from injury, but the secondary has still been vulnerable enough to keep the conversation centered on whether more help is needed, and how aggressive the team wants to be in fixing it.
One name worth watching is a corner with a short-term deal in Philadelphia, where the Eagles season has taken a turn and the franchise may be more willing to listen than it was a few weeks ago. For the Falcons, the question is whether the combination of reinforcements already coming back and the urgency created by recent breakdowns is enough to push them into a move they might otherwise try to avoid. [Read more 🡒]