@@Atlanta Falcons

Falcons Free Agency Activity for 03/13/2023 Megathread

  • March 13, 2023


I will try to keep this up to date as the day goes. Sorry if things may be a little late… I’m at work :3.

#The Big One

[Chris Lindstrom signs a mega extension! 5 year 105m. One of the best guards in the game today gets his payday. He enters the 2023 season at age 26.](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/35850830/falcons-make-chris-lindstrom-nfl-highest-paid-guard)

#Some Defense Help

[Former Saints DT David Onyemata signs with Atlanta. Three years, $35 million with $24.5 million fully guaranteed over the first two years of the deal.](https://twitter.com/adamschefter/status/1635326037415571457?s=46&t=NBfVVVSiCxYh2x3IMnmn8A)

**Other Signings**

*[Patriots TE Jonnu Smith goes to Atlanta for a 7th. Contract also restructured.](https://twitter.com/rapsheet/status/1635298889480933377?s=46&t=eXGe5haBwgD-_bJ3wN0Npw)

*[FB Keith Smith re-signs to a 1 year deal. His 5th season as a Falcon.](https://twitter.com/mysportsupdate/status/1635313111367569408?s=46&t=Npk3NdTH1gxCcw90LIv3VQ)

**Bradley Pinion UPDATE: 1:30PM EST**

[Falcons punter Bradley Pinion signs a three-year, $8.65 million deal that puts him among the NFL’s top eight highest-paid at the position. Pinion gets $4.325M guaranteed, including $3.5M this year.](https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1635332393283330060?s=20)

**Jessie Bates UPDATE: 4:38PM EST**

[Falcons sign former Bengals safety Jessie Bates to a four-year, $64.02 million deal that includes $23 million in year one and $36 million in first two years of the deal, per source. He now is the fourth highest-paid S in NFL history.](https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1635379342145642499?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet)

**Kaden Elliss UPDATE: 9:45PM EST**

[Falcons sign former Saints LB Kaden Elliss for 3 years and $21.5m.](https://twitter.com/rapsheet/status/1635450250155491334?s=46&t=cpIJCGWqqUgAtyjD312_ow)

27 comments

  1. Love that we’re at least hearing some moves. Was always quiet and not much to be excited about. Let’s go and FTS

  2. Javon Hargrave is signing with the #49ers on a 4-year, $84M deal, source said. The top DT on the market.

  3. I sure do love people who don’t watch the Falcons saying that we wasted those money on a guy nobody knows (Lindstrom) and that he’s a bum getting blasted by actual football enthusiasts

  4. Mcglinchey signing with Broncos 5 year deal worth $87.5M with over $50M guaranteed 😳

  5. I’m telling you guys, it’s going to be one of CJGJ or Bates, and a starting RT in the 1st round, plus some depth filler/resignings. I love this plan.

  6. Saints currently losing their defensive depth to other teams in the division. Priceless.

  7. Taking a minute from refreshing the nfl page to say I’m just happy about all the signings. Idc what they say about Onyemata ik they brought him in for a reason and I trust it with their track record after last season.

    Jonnu is sneaky exciting pickup

  8. Totally missed the Onyemata signing. Nice job TF he’s a great guy to pair with Grady.

  9. How much more cap space do we have? Would love a C, S, LB, DE

    Especially LB, free agent class is really deep

  10. Loving whats going on so far. Id like to see a CB/WR signing. I think Bates is almost a lock. For WR id honestly like Juju, he may not be the greatest, but another big body WR to come across the middle would be bigly.

  12. When will we know what the update on our cap situation is? Will it only be once FA is over or can we determine it throughout the signings?

  13. It feels pretty likely now that Carter and Onyemata are going to be on the field +50% of the time along with Jarrett.

    My big question is: how much do they believe in Ebiketie? He was getting over 50% of the snaps before the injury, does he go back to that? If so, we’re really just looking at situational depth now for the DL.

  14. Are there any edge rushers we should be going after in FA? Assume we’re going RT in the draft now but really want some improved pass rush off the edge next season

  22. looks like we’ve spent ~48/64M so far for this years cap, so probably should cool off the rest of the day

  23. So that’s…

    * Bates – $23M
    * Lindstrom – $21M (-$13M existing to make new cap hit $8M?)
    * Onyemata – $13M
    * J Smith – $8M (approx)
    * Pinion – $3.5M
    * K Smith – $2M (guessing)

    So approximately $55M to $65M for new contracts against the cap? Am I close?

    I’d think that officially puts us out of any running for Lamar Jackson, for anyone who doubted, unless we really load up the back end of the contract which the Ravens could match anyway.

    We need to sign the draft class ($8-10M?) too. RT, Edge, and WR? What else?

  24. I think it’s safe to say McGary is gonna walk, don’t think we have the cap left to bring him in for what he’s gonna want.

  25. I was lead to believe we were remaking our entire defense with all the cap room we have. Unless we make some other moves we are done at a safety and a DT? Am I missing something?

  26. I am so happy with today’s transactions/rumors.
    – New DL ($12M) Onyemata vs ($21M) Hargrave …we win the cap battle
    – Best FA Safty available – we all love Bates x3
    – Resigning Lindstrom (the #1 OG) – a bit pricey, but with a rookie QB, we can afford it
    – locking in a great punter for maybe a bit pricey contract, but one less thing to worry about
    – locking in our FB Keith Smith for 1 year (unknown cap hit) also 1 less thing.

    We are bringing the bang to the Bucks… and the Saints… and the Panthers

    We getting Ready! Rise Up!

  27. As it stands now I would say that:

    Carter and Ebeketie would get most of our snaps on the edge.

    Omenyata and Jarrett are the interior defensive linemen.

    Anderson and Elliss are the offball LBs.

    Bates is our single high safety and Grant is closer to the LOS.

    Terrell and Hayward are the outside corners, and I guess Alford and Hall would battle it out for the nickel. Probably the most fluidity right now at corner, pending Hayward’s health, what we do at nickel and in the draft.

    Walker is the third LB, Graham, Malone, Horne, Abdullah are in rotation along the d line, and Hawkins is the third safety.

    Evans likely goes somewhere else, Ogundeji gets cut, Harris maybe comes back for ST depth.

Leave a Reply