The Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks have completed a trade on NFL cutdown day, with the Falcons sending a conditional 2027 seventh-round draft pick to the Seahawks in exchange for offensive lineman Michael Jerrell, via Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
Jerrell played 10 games and made three starts at tackle for the Seahawks last season. He struggled in limited action, posting a 46.4 overall grade at Pro Football Focus. But with Atlanta needing some depth along its offensive line, particularly with all of its injury issues, acquiring Jerrell makes sense.
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The 26-year-old, who played his collegiate football at Findlay, was originally selected by Seattle in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Jerrell could, at the very least, serve as a decent bench piece given his experience as a starter, so this could be viewed as a solid pickup for the Falcons, especially considering the cost was minimal.
Atlanta was viewed as a playoff contender heading into last season, but ultimately went 8-9 and missed the postseason for the seventh straight year.
The Falcons will certainly be an intriguing team to watch heading into 2025. Michael Penix Jr. will be entering his first full season as the starting quarterback, and Atlanta has a ton of weapons at Penix's disposal, as well.
The Falcons do have some questions defensively that need to be answered, but they are fortunate enough to be playing in the NFC South, which may very well be the worst division in football.
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So long as Penix progresses well (he definitely showed flashes last year), Atlanta could at least hang around in playoff contention throughout the campaign. Whether or not the Falcons have enough to finally dethrone the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as NFC South champions, though, remains to be seen.
Atlanta will get a great litmus test when it hosts the Buccaneers to open the regular season on Sept. 7.
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