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The Atlanta Falcons finished their first mandatory minicamp on June 12th. After finishing second in the NFC South last season, Atlanta looks to make improvements to secure a playoff berth this year. The Falcons already made big moves at the NFL Draft, and have brought back many of the core players who brought them to eight wins last season. Still, the business of the NFL means that as some players improve and grow, others have to be cut to make room for them. We look at the three players in danger of being cut from the Falcons now that mini-camp is over.
The first major piece of news out of Falcons minicamp was the arrival of Kirk Cousins. After skipping voluntary OTAs this offseason, Cousins arrived at minicamp as expected. Now the Falcons will not practice as a team again until training camp opens in July. Between now and then, the front office and coaches will evaluate each position, looking to bring in the best 90 players for their roster as they prepare for the 2025 season.
The Falcons have already made moves this offseason. They released Grady Jarrett while also seeing Richie Grant leave. The Falcons also brought in two first-round draft picks and signed players Leonard Floyd and Easton Stick. With new faces on the roster this year, there will be players who will be cut before the start of training camp.
This past offseason, the Falcons signed Leonard Floyd to a one-year contract worth $10 million. He was a first-round pick in 2016 by the Chicago Bears, playing his first five seasons with the team. He would then spend two years with the Los Angeles Rams, before a year in Buffalo, and last season with the San Francisco 49ers. Floyd has been productive in recent years. In each of the last five seasons, he had had 8.5 or more sacks, while forcing a fumble in four of the last five. He has seen his tackle numbers diminish in recent years, and played just ten games last season, but still had 8.5 sacks.
Still, it is not just the signing of Floyd that could lead to a player being cut. James Pearce Jr. was also drafted in the first round. Head coach Raheem Morris has had high praise for Pearce already. He was drafted with the 26th pick in this past NFL draft out of Tennessee. He had a solid college career, including being third in the SEC in sacks in the 2023 season.
With Pearce already looking good and the new addition of Floyd, DeAngelo Malone could be the odd man out. Malone is a former third-round pick from the 2022 NFL Draft. The former All-Conference-USA player out of Western Kentucky has yet to make a name for himself at the NFL level. His season high in tackles came in his rookie year of 2022. That year, he had 18 solo tackles and 11 assisted tackles....
