At the end of the 2023 season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had won their third straight NFC South title, with a 9-8 record that stood up through the tiebreakers to top the 9-8 New Orleans Saints. The Atlanta Falcons were third in the division at 7-10.
By the time the 2024 season rolled around, the Falcons were widely considered the favorites to win the division, and that shift was mostly due to one reason: the signing of veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins. In one way, Cousins did shift the balance of power between the Buccaneers and Falcons because his best two games of the season were in Atlanta's sweep of Tampa Bay. Overall, however, Cousins eventually lost his starting job to rookie Michael Penix and the Falcons' year-over-year improvement was a modest one win to finish 8-9. The Buccaneers won their fourth straight NFC South crown at 10-7.
What will the narrative for the NFC South be in 2025? Will the Buccaneers be able to sustain their success of the 2020s? Will the Falcons thrive under Penix in Raheem Morris's second season at the helm? Can the Saints rebound from a 5-12 season under new Head Coach Kellen Moore? Are the Dave Canales-led Panthers a team on the rise given the improved play of young quarterback Bryce Young?
We won't know the answers until we're well into the 2025 season, but public opinion will surely be swayed by the developments of the offseason, just as they were when Cousins landed in Atlanta last March. Therefore, it's worth keeping an eye on what is going on in Atlanta, Charlotte and New Orleans throughout the offseason. We will do that with our "NFC South Check-Ins." This is an updated version of an article originally published in February, now including the very important results of the 2025 draft as we consider the immediate future of the Bucs' rivals from Georgia.
2025 Atlanta Falcons
News/Developments Since End of 2024 Season:
The big changes on the Falcons' coaching staff happened a year ago, when Arthur Smith was dismissed after three seasons at the helm, all of which finished with 7-10 records. Former Buccaneers Head Coach Raheem Morris, more recently the defensive coordinator for the Rams, got his second shot at the corner office and brought in Zac Robinson and Jimmy Lake as his coordinators.
Robinson will continue to guide the Falcons' offense in 2025 after it finished sixth in the overall yardage rankings in 2024, including fifth in passing and 10th in rushing. However, the Falcons fired Lake on January 11 and a week later replaced him at defensive coordinator with Jeff Ulbrich, who most recently went 3-9 as the interim head coach of the New York Jets. Until he was bumped up after the firing of Robert Saleh in New York, he had spent a little more than three seasons coordinating a very good Jets defense. Ulbrich also has history with the Falcons, having served on Dan Quinn's staff from 2015-20 as a linebackers coach. In the last of those six seasons, Quinn was fired, Morris became the interim head coach and Ulbrich became the interim defensive coordinator.
The Falcons made a couple other notable change to Morris's staff in January, beginning with the dismissal of defensive line coach Jay Rodgers on January 11. He was replaced by Nate Ollie, who had most recently been the Houston Texans' assistant defensive line coach. Ollie also previously worked with Ulbrich in New York. The Falcons also hired Mike Rutenberg, who had been the Jets' linebackers coach, to serve as their defensive passing game coordinator.
In March, Atlanta notably picked up a $10 million roster bonus on Cousins, retaining their options to either trade the veteran quarterback or have him serve as a high-priced backup to Penix in 2025.
The end of the 2024 season also finalized the Falcons' list of opponents for the upcoming campaign. All four teams in the NFC South will play each other twice and will face all four teams in the NFC West and AFC East. The other three games on each team's schedule were determined by matching the standings against the team's in the NFC East, NFC North and AFC South. For the Buccaneers, who finished first in the NFC South, that meant a home against Philadelphia and trips to Detroit and Houston. The Falcons placed second in the division and thus drew a home meeting with Washington and games at Minnesota and Indianapolis.
Free Agency:
Atlanta's biggest addition in free agency dovetailed with a primary offseason focus that later became clear in the draft. Determined to pump up a pass rush that produced the fewest sacks in the league (169) over the last decade, the Falcons brought in the well-traveled but consistently productive Leonard Floyd. Floyd has played for three teams (Rams, Bills, 49ers) over the past three seasons but has had at least 8.5 sacks in each of the last five seasons. No Falcons pass-rusher has produced more than seven sacks in a season since 2019.
Atlanta also added former Charger Morgan Fox to their interior defensive front after parting ways with long-time franchise standout Grady Jarrett. Former Raiders linebacker Divine Deablo got a two-year, $14 million deal to add depth to the middle of the defense, while cornerback Michael Ford and safety Jordan Fuller, last of the Browns and Panthers, respectively, do the same for the secondary. The Falcons also raided the Chargers for their new third quarterback, Easton Stick.
Heading into free agency, the Falcons faced a list of 22 potential unrestricted free agents, six of whom started nine or more games for the team in 2024. Of those six, only one has re-signed with the team: cornerback Mike Hughes, who got a new three-year deal. Safety Justin Simmons and edge rusher Matthew Judon, both added to the roster late last summer, remain unsigned. Outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter (Titans), defensive lineman Eddie Goldman (Commanders) and center Drew Dalman (Bears) all found new NFL homes in free agency. Dalman started all 40 games in which he played over the last three seasons in Atlanta. Jarrett also landed with the Bears after being released.
2025 NFL Draft
The Falcons' 8-9 finish left them tied in the draft order with Miami, Indiana and Arizona for the 13th through 16th picks in the first round. Due to their .519 strength of schedule figure, the Falcons were slotted third in that foursome, giving them the 15th overall pick in the 2025 draft.
Atlanta stayed put in that spot and, after four straight years of using a top-10 pick on an offensive skill position player (TE Kyle Pitts, WR Drake London, RB Bijan Robinson and Penix), went all-in on defense. The Falcons used that first pick to land versatile Georgia edge rusher/linebacker Jalon Walker, considered a potential top-10 pick by many analysts. The Falcons then doubled down on the edges by trading up from the 46th overall pick in the second round to pick number 26 to grab Tennessee's athletic defender, James Pearce. Atlanta paid a steep price for that move, sending their 2026 first-round pick to the Rams.
The Falcons did get a third-round pick back from Los Angeles in the deal and, after a small trade up, began another double-dip by taking Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts. In the fourth round, Atlanta then nabbed Oklahoma safety Billy Bowman, adding both players to a secondary that already includes standout safety Jessie Bates. Watts and Bowman were both noted ball hawks in the college football ranks. Atlanta's only other pick in the draft was seventh-round swing tackle Jack Nelson out of Wisconsin.
