4 Star free agents the Atlanta Falcons should chase in 2023

[FalconFanSince1969]

11 minutes ago, West Sider said:

Payne ain’t getting out of Washington. Not for free anyway. If he don’t re-sign, he’ll get franchise tagged. 

I just don't think they can afford to do that. They're already paying Jonathan Allen like 20m a season. That's 40m at defensive tackle when you don't have a QB.... I mean I guess it's possible but that would be about their only move in free agency

 

 

 

[Bigjmw084]

Poona Ford is a guy nobody is talking about that can give u best of both worlds from the interior. Freaky athletic at 5-11 310. Graded average last season playing out of position at 3T. He is at his best at NT. Would likely cost us 8-10 mil. 

[FalconFanSince1969]

17 minutes ago, Bigjmw084 said:

Poona Ford is a guy nobody is talking about that can give u best of both worlds from the interior. Freaky athletic at 5-11 310. Graded average last season playing out of position at 3T. He is at his best at NT. Would likely cost us 8-10 mil. 

Isn't that kind of small for a nt? 5'11 310 is a brick **** house being that short tho

[SaintRay]

Just dropping by.

Gardener is outstanding when he plays in the box against the run, or in blitz packages. He plays with great attitude, but he often gets beat in pass coverage.
 

He was traded out of New Orleans because of a rotten attitude. The Saints offered him $10 million per year to play Slot and he wanted $14M. When he didn’t get it, he started ignoring the coaches and causing trouble on the practice field. His antics carried on all preseason long.

The Saints drafted Taylor and that made Gardner dispensable.

[g-dawg]

While DaRon Payne would be fantastic, I would say probably 80-90% chance the ForeSkins will franchise tag him if they cannot get a deal done.

Like clockwork every year we at TATF get excited about a high profile free agent that never makes it to UFA.

[falconsd56]

16 hours ago, Falconcheff said:

This. My personal opinion on WR is that we should trade for a bona fide legit #1... DHop, DK Metcalf or DJ Moore all have trade block rumors. I've got a 3rd round pick for any of them (if it's DK they can have a 4th next year too)... 

DK Metcalf would be phenomenal in this offense with London and Pitts..but if he gets traded then the Seahawks are going to get a haul like the Dolphins gave up for Hill 

[Freddies 3rd Cuz]

31 minutes ago, g-dawg said:

While DaRon Payne would be fantastic, I would say probably 80-90% chance the ForeSkins will franchise tag him if they cannot get a deal done.

Like clockwork every year we at TATF get excited about a high profile free agent that never makes it to UFA.

Happens every year, but we can hope right 

[RYNE]

Payne and Gardner Johnson yes. 
 

F-no to the other two 

 

Now If you wanna grab like a Sam LaPorta out of Iowa to play TE in the 3rd 4th I’m ok with that. Then put Pitts all over the the field. 
 

Sterling Shepard… WTH 

[Malachore]

Using the term star pretty loosely with half this list.

[Stryka]

On 2/17/2023 at 10:45 AM, Mid-Nite-Toker said:

Payne and Gardner-Johnson

 

That would be a dream and it could happen but we won’t be tying up our cap space with 2 almost 20 mill contracts. 

[ATLskinjob]

2 hours ago, g-dawg said:

While DaRon Payne would be fantastic, I would say probably 80-90% chance the ForeSkins will franchise tag him if they cannot get a deal done.

Like clockwork every year we at TATF get excited about a high profile free agent that never makes it to UFA.

The franchise tag will be around $19 million for DT this season. The Commanders have $8 million cap space currently. The Commanders also just signed Jonathan Allen to a 4 year $72 million contact. Allen is due to make $21 million this year.

The Commanders also have to worry about signing Chase Young and Montez Sweat in the upcoming seasons. They also drafted a DT in the second last draft. 

Rivera says he wants to keep Payne, and that having two stud DTs is the way he runs his defense. 

So as you can see, there are a lot of reasons as to why the Commanders wouldn't be able to bring back Payne. I think they want to, but it's hard to see a way that they could. They'll have to clear out a bunch of cap space if they want to. 

And while it's not impossible for them to clear the necessary cap space, it would still mean they've got about $40 million invested in the DT position.

I really can't wait for free agency to begin.

[ShoNuff]

It is obvious the Falcons should attempt to bring in DL Payne, to the point of perhaps chasing Payne.  However, they should not chase the other three players. I take "chasing" players as offering more money than that player is worth. None of the other players mentioned are worth "chasing". This must be a blog from Blogging Dirty....

Edited February 20 by ShoNuff
correcting grammar

[Mid-Nite-Toker]

56 minutes ago, Stryka said:

That would be a dream and it could happen but we won’t be tying up our cap space with 2 almost 20 mill contracts. 

I think it would be worth it.  Our defense would improve over night.  We can draft a cb to play opposite AJT and a lb.

Probably just wishful thing anyway.

[g-dawg]

23 minutes ago, ATLskinjob said:

The franchise tag will be around $19 million for DT this season. The Commanders have $8 million cap space currently. The Commanders also just signed Jonathan Allen to a 4 year $72 million contact. Allen is due to make $21 million this year.

The Commanders also have to worry about signing Chase Young and Montez Sweat in the upcoming seasons. They also drafted a DT in the second last draft. 

Rivera says he wants to keep Payne, and that having two stud DTs is the way he runs his defense. 

So as you can see, there are a lot of reasons as to why the Commanders wouldn't be able to bring back Payne. I think they want to, but it's hard to see a way that they could. They'll have to clear out a bunch of cap space if they want to. 

And while it's not impossible for them to clear the necessary cap space, it would still mean they've got about $40 million invested in the DT position.

I really can't wait for free agency to begin.

If they want to keep him,

they will

[Stryka]

4 hours ago, Mid-Nite-Toker said:

I think it would be worth it.  Our defense would improve over night.  We can draft a cb to play opposite AJT and a lb.

Probably just wishful thing anyway.

I think with our offense being in a better state that we should invest heavily on defense. I absolutely believe Grady deserves to play next to another monster. Someone who gonna open things up for him and make us more stout up front.  I agree that with those 2 we could draft a CB and resign Evans at MLB and you have a better defense. I still believe we need a bonafide pass rusher though

[1989Fan]

17 hours ago, FalconFanSince1969 said:

I just don't think they can afford to do that. They're already paying Jonathan Allen like 20m a season. That's 40m at defensive tackle when you don't have a QB.... I mean I guess it's possible but that would be about their only move in free agency

 

 

 

Wouldn’t be much different than ATL paying Payne with Jarrett’s deal in the books and similar uncertainty at QB.

[nutsandbolts]

On 2/17/2023 at 10:54 AM, 1989Fan said:

I can get behind all but Gesicki. The reason MIA won’t keep him is the same reason we won’t sign him. Heavy reliance on blocking from TE In the offense, and dude is allergic to blocking, has been since his days at Penn State. 

And we are far from giving up on Fitz who mysteriously was ghosted the entire season without seeing a snap. Blocking is his main forte. 

[PokerSteve]

On 2/17/2023 at 10:32 AM, Summerhill said:

#1 and #3 are no-brainers. #2 is ok but shouldn't be in a top 4 list. I don't see Gesecki as a fit at all. 

We have MyCole Pruitt. We have to concentrate on weaknesses, not just adding depth. 

[TheRisen999]

On 2/18/2023 at 11:13 AM, Abeasley27 said:

I’d like to throw a few names that could be in our timeline and be relatively easy to sign…

Connor McGovern 

Miles Sanders 

Nasir Adderly

I think these guys would be upgrades maybe not necessarily Sanders, but he would make a nice duo with Algiers. 

A couple others that we may could take a swing at would be Tremaine Edmunds as a true upgrade and Byron Murphy or Sean Murphy-Bunting as guys we could possibly buy low on and get a good return. 

My favorites of the class though are 

Charles Omenihu, Zach Allen, David Onyemata and of course Daron Payne and Jessie Bates 

Jessie Bates, Edmunds, Payne, Onyemata, Nate Davis, Ogunjobi or Gardener-Johnson.. I’m hoping free agency brings us a combination of any two or three of these guys.

[Abeasley27]

38 minutes ago, TheRisen999 said:

Jessie Bates, Edmunds, Payne, Onyemata, Nate Davis, Ogunjobi or Gardener-Johnson.. I’m hoping free agency brings us a combination of any two or three of these guys.

Absolutely. We need to bring in good quality as well as quantity. So if there’s a combo of these guys that maximizes that then I’m all for it

[TheRisen999]

On 2/18/2023 at 4:43 PM, SaintRay said:

Just dropping by.

Gardener is outstanding when he plays in the box against the run, or in blitz packages. He plays with great attitude, but he often gets beat in pass coverage.
 

He was traded out of New Orleans because of a rotten attitude. The Saints offered him $10 million per year to play Slot and he wanted $14M. When he didn’t get it, he started ignoring the coaches and causing trouble on the practice field. His antics carried on all preseason long.

The Saints drafted Taylor and that made Gardner dispensable.

Good intel I guess. Arthur Smith definitely wouldn’t put up his **** and if it’s known throughout the league that this was a thing they probably won’t bring him here. 

[ShoNuff]

On 2/18/2023 at 1:05 AM, Falconcheff said:

This. My personal opinion on WR is that we should trade for a bona fide legit #1... DHop, DK Metcalf or DJ Moore all have trade block rumors. I've got a 3rd round pick for any of them (if it's DK they can have a 4th next year too)... 

Man, I like DeAndre Hopkins. I just notice he turns 31 this year. I wonder how many very productive years he has left. However, I do agree with you, if we are going to hunt for another receiver I would prefer those guys you mentioned.

[Lornoth]

For what it's worth, Gesicki is basically a better Hayden Hurst, who was so bad of a scheme fit that we played way less talented people over him and then cut him for the guys currently on the roster.