The Falcons have been quite busy during the opening salvo of legal tampering, with most of their reported/not yet official signings landing on the offensive side of the ball. That doesn’t mean they’ve ignored defense, however.
Both of their signings thus far have been young players with some starting experience who look like rotational players or backups on this defense, and you won’t see me sneering at that given the shaky state of hte team’s depth. They’ll need to do more than that—replacing David Onyemata and Dee Alford is not going to be easy, necessarily—but it’s a start. Signing Cameron Thomas will be counted upon to help out on the defensive front, but the second signing is aimed at improving Atlanta’s woeful inside linebacker depth.
That signing would be Christian Harris, formerly of the Texans, and the news comes to us from NFL insider Cameron Wolfe.
Harris was a full-time starter his first couple of years in Houston, but was gradually pushed into a backup role by a combination of injury and inconsistent play; all but three games of his 2024 season were wiped out by injury and he never regained a starting job in 2025. [Our own Kevin Knight liked his athleticism](/2022/4/9/23015390/christian-harris-scouting-report-2022-nfl-draft-lb-alabama), coverage ability, and upside back in 2022 when he was entering the draft, but was not a fan of his run defense and spotty tackling. The athleticism and coverage ability _is_ there, but Harris has not been able to deliver on his considerable promise to this point. He was decent in his very limited looks in 2025, however.
The Falcons, who just rolled the dice on Divine Deablo next year betting his traits would allow him to excel in Jeff Ulbrich’s defense, are undoubtedly making a similar bet with Harris. There’s little question that Harris has not been as good thus far in his career as Deablo was with the Raiders, and he does not have the combination of length and instincts that made Deablo so good for the Falcons in 2025. But what Harris _does_ bring to the table is youth, some real promise, and likely a very affordable contract, and even if he tops out as a useful reserve he’ll prove to be an upgrade over what the Falcons got out of the likes of JD Bertrand in 2025. If he becomes more than that, awesome, but even as a backup he’s an interesting addition.
Whether he will may depend on the opportunity available to him in 2026. Kaden Elliss has not been re-signed, while a restructured Troy Andersen is no lock to play and/or play well this year given that injury continues to be his constant companion. If the Falcons don’t make any big moves, we’ll know what their expectations for Harris are.
Give Harris a warm welcome, and let’s hope he’s a quality piece of a quality inside linebacker group in 2026.