Free-Agent Setup: Falcons' DL stars may be costly
Falcons defensive tackle Dontari Poe.
The Atlanta Falcons must decide if they want to re-sign defensive tackle Dontari Poe, defensive end Adrian Clayborn and kicker Matt Bryant.
Poe played last season on an incentive-laden contract on a base salary of $8 million. He bet on himself and had a solid season. He played 868 defensive snaps, the second highest on the team behind Grady Jarrett's 870. He also played eight snaps on offense. Poe was the seventh highest-paid defensive tackle in the league.
The Dolphins' Ndamukong Suh is slated to be the highest paid defensive tackle in the league at $16.9 million next season. Clayborn led the team in sacks with 9.5. Bryant will turn 43 on May 29, but showed no signs of slowing down and he could be a candidate to get the franchise tag.
Unit-by-unit depth chart as of Super Bowl LII. Injured players listed as starters if that was their status when injured.
*Asterisk indicates player ended 2017 season on injured reserve.
QUARTERBACKS (C): Starter - Matt Ryan. Backup - Matt Schaub.
RUNNING BACKS (C): Starters - Devonta Freeman, FB Derrick Coleman. Backups -- Tevin Coleman, Terron Ward.
TIGHT ENDS (D): Starter - Austin Hooper. Backups - Levine Toilolo, Eric Saubert.
WIDE RECEIVERS (C): Starters - Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu. Backups - Taylor Gabriel (UFA), Justin Hardy, Nick Williams (UFA), Marvin Hall, *Devin Fuller.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (C): Starters - LT Jake Matthews, LG *Andy Levitre, C Alex Mack, RG Wes Schweitzer, RT Ryan Schraeder. Backups - G Ben Garland (UFA), G Sean Harlow, T Ty Sambrailo, T Austin Pasztor (UFA).
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (B): Starters - DE Brooks Reed, DT Grady Jarrett, DT Dontari Poe (UFA), DE Adrian Clayborn (UFA). Backups -- DE Derrick Shelby, DE Takkarist McKinley, DE *Martin Ifedi, DT Courtney Upshaw (UFA), DT *Jack Crawford, DT Ahtyba Rubin (UFA).
LINEBACKERS (B-plus): Starters -- SLB Vic Beasley Jr., MLB Deion Jones, WLB De'Vondre Campbell. Backups - OLB Duke Riley, OLB Sean Weatherspoon (UFA), OLB *Jordan Tripp (UFA), OLB/S Kemal Ishmael (UFA), MLB LaRoy Reynolds.
DEFENSIVE BACKS (B): Starters - LCB Desmond Trufant, SS Keanu Neal, FS Ricardo Allen, RCB Robert Alford. Backups -- CB Brian Poole, CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson (UFA), CB Leon McFadden (UFA), S Damontae Kazee, S Sharrod Neasman, S *Quincy Mauger.
SPECIAL TEAMS (A): K Matt Bryant (UFA), P Matt Bosher, LS Josh Harris, KOR/PR Andre Roberts (UFA).
Recent Stories
Rams hard at work despite earning bye
The Los Angeles Rams will continue to stay hard at work despite earning a bye through the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs.
Players will continue to visit the ...
Packers' lost season includes losing Rodgers to concussion
Green Bay's 6-9-1 season ended with Aaron Rodgers getting knocked out of Sunday's 31-0 loss to the Detroit Lions with a concussion. That was dubious and fitting ...
49ers will retain defensive coordinator Saleh
The San Francisco 49ers gave up a lot of points and did not force many turnovers, but Robert Saleh will return for his third season as the 49ers' defensive coordinator, ...
GM Licht says Winston is Bucs' quarterback
Dirk Koetter was fired as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head coach on Sunday, but his quarterback will be staying.
General manager Jason Licht, who will lead the search ...
Chargers get another chance against Ravens
The Los Angeles Chargers didn't have to wait long for a chance to avenge their Week 16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Los Angeles was shut down by Baltimore's stout ...
Latest Player Notes
How a Wisconsin legend got his German protégé into Badgers pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Marlon Werthmann put his life on hold for the opportunity in front of him Friday at the McClain Center.Werthmann ...
Why former Wisconsin football running back Braelon Allen didn't run the 40 at pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Braelon Allen’s sweat covered his shirt and dripped off his beard as he approached a group of reporters Friday.The ...
How can UW recruit its best class ever? It starts with these five prospects
By Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
Jedd Fisch has lofty recruiting goals at Washington. He didn’t waste any ...
Texas football kicks off spring practice Tuesday. We answer 24 questions for the 2024 team
Things certainly look fresh for the 2024 college football season, especially on the Texas campus.There’s a new conference ...
College Football Playoff: Conferences solve their differences (for now) and agree on general framework for 2026 and beyond
The FBS conferences and Notre Dame agreed on Friday to continue the College Football Playoff beyond the 2025 season, signing ...
Ball security, leadership key as Aztecs look to identify starting quarterback
San Diego State seemingly auditions a new starting quarterback on an annual basis.In the past 12 years, the Aztecs have opened ...
Results and more: A look at what happened at Penn State football’s Pro Day inside Holuba Hall
Most of those at Penn State’s Pro Day Friday were relatively quiet throughout the afternoon’s workouts, but there was one ...
Defense dominates first two weeks of Oregon State spring practice as Beavers ready for 2-week breather
CORVALLIS – Oregon State hit the break of spring practices Saturday, not exactly the midpoint but a good place to assess ...
Dillon Gabriel to have similar input, autonomy as Bo Nix had in Oregon’s offense
Published Mar. 16, 2024, 6:26 p.m.By James CrepeaEUGENE — Dillon Gabriel will have much of the same autonomy as Bo Nix did ...
Two transfers, one underclassman who impressed in Missouri football's spring game
With that, spring camp’s a wrap.Missouri football held its Black & Gold spring game Saturday in front of a healthy crowd ...