The Falcons moved players on expiring contracts before the deadline, but Divine Deablo stayed put, and that silence says plenty.
Atlanta already made its willingness to deal clear. The team sent All-Pro safety Jessie Bates III to the Jaguars for a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick, then flipped Ryan Neuzil to the Baltimore Ravens for a 2028 sixth and OG Andrew Vorhees. For a front office that values draft capital, those returns fit the plan.
But not every expiring contract found a new home. Tua Tagovailoa, C.J.
Henderson, and Deablo all remained with the Falcons, and Deablo’s case stands out the most. Henderson at least looked like a possible long-term depth option in the secondary, and the quarterback market barely moved at all.
Deablo, though, is the one that raises eyebrows.
The simplest answer is also the most likely one: nobody wanted him.
There were reasons teams hesitated. Deablo has been dealing with injury problems, missing two games this season with a forearm injury after an IR stint because of it last year.
He has also been a fixture on the injury report, and since returning last season, he hasn’t shown the same explosiveness. Atlanta has rookie linebackers Kendal Daniels and Harold Perkins Jr. who have made him more expendable, but those younger players also give the Falcons cheaper options for the same role.
Even then, moving him would not have been a clean decision. The Falcons have struggled to stop the run over their last five games, ranking 32nd in the NFL in rushing yards per game allowed from Weeks 5-9. Trading away their best run defender for little return would have been a risky call, even if Daniels and Perkins have flashed.
Money mattered too. Atlanta would have been on the hook for almost $6 million in dead cap this season if Deablo had been moved, and that is a steep price for a player whose value had already slipped. On top of that, his arm situation makes a physical a real concern.
That leaves the deadline picture pretty clear. Cunningham was not going to give up a pick just to move Deablo, and he was not likely to accept a discount either.
In the end, the Falcons probably never found a real market for him, with the injury concerns and regression from his 2025 form scaring teams off. It is a rough turn for a player who once looked like the face of this defense.
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The Falcons have already shown that shift in other ways, including trading Ryan Neuzil and locking in younger players on new contracts. Bates exit leaves a notable leadership void on a defense that valued his experience and voice, and it also adds another layer to a roster reset that is clearly still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
Drake London Gives Falcons Fans Another Reason To Be Frustrated
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London was also fined $12,537 for a separate unnecessary roughness penalty against the Buccaneers, pushing his total for the month past $36,000. For a Falcons team that has dropped two straight, the discipline issues around one of its top pass catchers only add to the frustration around a stretch that already feels too familiar. [Read more 🡒]