The Falcons made a move at the deadline that says plenty about where they think this season is headed, even if they keep saying the playoffs are still in reach.
On Tuesday night, Atlanta sent center Ryan Neuzil to the Baltimore Ravens and brought back interior offensive lineman Andrew Vorhees plus a conditional 2028 draft selection. That deal came with the Falcons sitting at 3-6, and it leaves them turning to Corey Levin at center on Sunday against Chris Jones and the Kansas Chiefs.
Neuzil had been a steady presence for Atlanta. He spent five seasons with the team, started the last 26 games and 39 overall, and this year he allowed one sack while committing one penalty. Still, the trade made it clear the Falcons were ready to move in a different direction once he reaches free agency this offseason.
“Obviously, love ‘Neuz’ [Ryan Neuzil],” Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski said Wednesday when asked about the move. “Great person. Just felt like this was an opportunity for our football team and comfortable and feel good about Corey Levin stepping in.”
Levin is the next man up, and the Falcons are leaning on the fact that he has already been working with Michael Penix Jr. in practice. He joined Atlanta this offseason after following Bill Callahan from the Tennessee Titans, and most of his work this year has come on special teams. Stefanski said Levin has been getting reps and is ready for the job, adding that he feels “really good” about where Levin is in understanding what the team is doing.
Bijan Robinson also praised the new center.
“He brings great energy into the locker room and onto the field,” Robinson said. “He doesn’t have an off switch.
He’s already ready to go, always ready to play, no matter what the situation is. He just gives extreme effort.”
Even with that confidence, the assignment is a brutal one. Levin has started only three games since the end of the 2022 season, and now he has to handle a Chiefs front that just battered Geno Smith with five sacks and pressure on half of his dropbacks. Steve Spagnuolo’s defense is known for throwing exotic looks at opposing offenses, and Chris Jones, who had two of those sacks last Sunday, will be lined up across from Levin on every snap.
“Corey Levin, being a veteran center and a guy who’s played in games and can think the game,” Stefanski said, “is important for a week like this.”
Atlanta is banking on that experience because Levin is the only rostered player with starts at center.
The other piece of the trade, Vorhees, gives the Falcons a different kind of help. He entered the 2023 draft as a projected day-two pick before a torn ACL at the scouting combine pushed him down to the seventh round. Since then, he has started all 20 games from 2024-25 and has made five more appearances this season, including two starts.
The Falcons plan to use him as depth at guard, likely alongside Kyle Hinton. At 6-foot-6 and 330 pounds, Vorhees brings size and the kind of interior traits Callahan likes.
“I've competed against him over the years, and he's a good football player,” Stefanski said. “Coach [Bill] Callahan and crew will get their arms around him and get him up to speed.”
Vorhees is also set to be a free agent after the season, so there’s no guarantee the Falcons will have him beyond these final weeks even if he proves useful.
The bigger issue is what the trade says about the present. Atlanta is still alive in a winnable NFC South, but the deadline moves did not make the path any easier.
The Falcons moved two starters, dropped to 3-6 after Sunday’s loss, and have now lost four of their last five. That leaves plenty of questions about why the team was willing to create uncertainty at such an important spot with half the season still left.
Stefanski said the focus inside the building has not changed.
“We’re excited about the opportunities we have in front of us, but decisions that are made for our football team are always in the best interest of our football team,” Stefanski said. “We talked about it earlier this week - sometimes there is that tension [between] short-term and long-term, but I know the group we have of players.
I know the group we have of coaches and staff. Our focus hasn't changed one bit.”
The Falcons’ center spot will be under the microscope immediately. Chris Jones will make sure of that on the first snap.
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One of those boundaries was Bijan Robinson. The Giants reportedly checked in on the running back, but Atlanta never seriously entertained the idea of moving him, a sign of how firmly the team views him as part of its long-term core. For a franchise trying to build around young talent, keeping Robinson out of the deadline churn says plenty about where the Falcons believe their foundation already is. [Read more 🡒]