The Falcons have turned over their linebackers room from a year ago. The last piece was sent to Cleveland on Sunday night.
The Falcons traded Deion Jones to the Browns, getting a sixth-round selection in 2024 in exchange for Jones and a seventh-round choice in 2024.
General Manager Terry Fontenot said in a statement that the deal was made in an effort to “improve our organization for the long term.”
Jones has one year left on his deal and is due to make $11.999 million in base salary and count $20 million against the cap in 2023. With no guaranteed money left, he likely was in his final season with the Falcons anyway.
“Like any move we make, we try to do it with the best interest of the team,” coach Arthur Smith said in his Monday news conference, via Ashton Edmunds of the team website. “We’re always mindful of the players and we’re very appreciative of all the players that played here. Very appreciative of what Deion has done for us.”
The deal was an easy one for the Falcons to make with Mykal Walker and Rashaan Evans playing as they are. Walker has a team-leading 44 tackles and an interception, and Evans has 41 tackles.
Troy Andersen, Nathan Landman, and Nick Kwiatkoski provide plenty of depth at the position.
“Mykal Walker has been playing really good football and the numbers show that and the same with Rashaan. They all have their strengths,” Smith said. “Troy, he played a little more against two stacked running back batches and thought he handled them really well. For Nate, he has to play a little more because Mykal was out. We feel good about Kwiatkoski too, so we feel like it’s a strength of our defense.”
