FLOWERY BRANCH - The Falcons needed help off the edge, and they needed it fast.
A suspension for James Pearce Jr. and a torn ACL for Jalon Walker left Atlanta thin in a spot that was already under pressure. So the team turned to Za’Darius Smith, a veteran who arrives as part of a group of players trying to rebuild their careers in Atlanta. Along with Samson Ebukam, Jared Ivey, Yasir Abudullah, and Cameron Thomas, Smith is now part of a defensive end room that has to help replace a record-setting unit while only a fraction of that production is back.
The Falcons believe that group can keep things together through the first half of the season until Pearce returns, and Smith is the player they may lean on most. He brings the kind of experience this room lacks, and he also brings a personal story that made Atlanta feel like the right place.
Smith stepped away from football last season so he could be in Alabama near his family after his mother was told she had a short time to live. She died later that month, and Smith soon lost both his father and grandmother as well.
“I was in a dark place,” Smith said, but the move to Atlanta gives him a chance to restart while staying close to the people who matter most to him. He’s less than three hours from home, and his family will be able to watch him play for a team that badly needs what he can still provide.
There’s another layer here, too: Smith already knows several people inside the Falcons’ building. He was with assistant general manager Jeff Scott in Philadelphia last season, spent two years under Kevin Stefanski in Cleveland, and Ian Cunningham was on the staff that drafted him in Baltimore. That familiarity mattered.
“I think it’s just human nature: when you know somebody, you tend to gravitate towards them versus the known versus the unknown,” Cunningham said about the addition of Smith. “Then it helps when there's a need.
It helps when there are other factors there. But I'd like to believe that relationships do matter.”
Because Smith came in late, Stefanski handled his return carefully and worked him back into practice at a measured pace. That slow ramp-up has given the Falcons a chance to see more than just the pass rusher. It has also highlighted the veteran presence they were hoping to add.
“He's been bringing energy even as he kind of warms up and progresses to get ready to go,” Scott said. “That's what we can ask for: him to be a veteran leader, do what he's done, and just to continue to build on where he's going. So, we were excited to be able to get a player like that at that time.”
Smith still has the résumé to stand out in this group. His 70.5 career sacks and second-team All-Pro nod in 2020 make him the most accomplished player in Atlanta’s front seven. He turns 34 on Sept. 8, but he still says there’s more in the tank, and he wants to get to 100 sacks.
He needs 33 more to reach that mark, and the Falcons will be counting on him to chip away at that total before November arrives.
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Falcons Still Have One Roster Debate Fans Cant Ignore
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Five names from other teams practice squads are already being floated as possible fits for Atlanta, each tied to a different need. Nothing is set, and that is what keeps the discussion alive, because the Falcons could still decide their best move is to wait, pounce later, or make a quiet addition that changes the depth chart in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]