by The Atlanta Falcons defensive front came alive in Week 9 with 3 sacks, 5 tackles for loss and 8 quarterback hits. The organization better hope it stays alive with the edge rushers they already have on the roster.
The Falcons made no action at the NFL trade deadline, which passed at 4:00 PM ET on Tuesday. Most notably, the Falcons continued to track their edge rushers despite ranking last in the NFL with nine sacks in nine games.
It’s not like there weren’t high-quality edge rushers available.
Three edge rushers changed addresses via trades on Tuesday. None of them were more expensive than day 3’s tap capital.
The biggest move of the day involving an edge rusher was Za’Darius Smith heading to the Detroit Lions. The Lions also received a 2026 seventh-rounder in the deal with the Cleveland Browns, who received a 2025 fifth-rounder and a 2026 sixth-round pick.
Another Smith was traded Tuesday — the Green Bay Packers sent defensive lineman Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a seventh-round pick in 2025. Finally, the Arizona Cardinals landed linebacker Baron Browning from the Denver Broncos for a sixth-rounder in 2025.
All three edge rushers pose risks. Two of them are rental players, while the other has an expensive cap hit for the 2025 season.
But such is life for NFL teams that have holes in their roster midseason — and that’s the case with every team. Even the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs recently traded for a player (wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins) and tried to land another on Tuesday.
Perfect additions can’t be made mid-season, but NFL teams have become much more aggressive in trying to fill a roster hole with trades than they used to be.
The Falcons were aggressive before the season started. They added safety Justin Simmons and then traded a third-round pick for edge rusher Matthew Judon. The first move worked, the second didn’t.
That’s why the Falcons were in position to add another edge rusher before Tuesday’s deadline.
They chose to remain stalemate. That will help come draft time, as the Falcons held on to their four remaining 2025 draft picks. But it won’t help now.
While neither Smith traded Tuesday is still in their prime, their new teams won’t necessarily ask them to be their best rusher. They will both provide depth to an already fairly elite group, especially in the case of Preston Smith in Pittsburgh.
The Falcons were looking more for an edge rusher to become the No. 1 overall pick. But Smith could have at least helped.
Browning was a riskier acquisition. This year he doesn’t have a single sack. But he had 9.5 sacks in 24 games in the 2022-23 season.
The other edge rusher who was available but did not move to a new team was Azeez Ojulari of the New York Giants. Ojulari, a native of Marietta, GA and former player for the Georgia Bulldogs, had been linked to the Falcons in trade rumors since the preseason.
But the Giants had a high asking price for Ojulari, who would also have been a rental player. Diana Russini of the Athletic reported that New York was looking for a high pick for Ojulari in the fifth or late fourth round.
The Falcons could have acquired Ojulari and then signed him to a long-term extension. That would have made giving up a fourth-rounder an easier pill to swallow.
Instead, the Falcons will double their current roster, which should worry Atlanta sports fans.
Granted, the Falcons are 6-3 without much help from their pass rush. But the schedule is getting tougher, and it’s hard to imagine the Falcons competing with the NFC elites without a much better second-half pass rush.
That will have to come from Atlanta’s current roster after the team failed to make deadline deals.
