The Falcons appear set to place a big bet on young players and coaching at cornerback

Perhaps cash is coming, but right now, the Falcons appear content.

The Atlanta Falcons have signed five cornerbacks since free agency opened. Two of them are veterans, with 2023 part-time Cardinals starter Antonio Hamilton and comeback-hopeful and former Packers corner Kevin King joining the roster before the draft. Three of them are undrafted free agents, from North Dakota State’s Jayden Price to MidAmerican Nazarene’s Anthony Sao to Minnesota State’s Trey Vaval. That’s it.

This is a fairly striking thing, because this is not a proven, high-end group of cornerbacks. Jeff Okudah started a significant portion of the season in 2023 and is gone, and valuable reserve Tre Flowers has not returned. Your starters today are A.J. Terrell, second-year pro Clark Phillips or Hamilton, and either third-year former undrafted free agent Dee Alford or fanbase punching bag Mike Hughes. It’s possible to conjure up a scenario in which Terrell, Phillips, and Alford form an excellent young, starting trio with Hamilton and Hughes as proven solid depth. It’s easier to think that none of that will prove to be good enough, and a rebuilt defensive line will suffer the ill effects of a weakened secondary behind them.

Is this really the plan? Will the Falcons stand pat?

Falcons tried but whiffed in draft

Terry Fontenot’s apparent allergy to reaching, per his definition of the word, kept the Falcons from getting a cornerback in the draft. The Falcons apparently tried to climb back into the first round to possibly grab a corner, but didn’t see one either worth trading up for or sticking at 43 for in the second round. From there, the team simply didn’t touch the position until they brought on Prince, Sao, and Vaval after the draft.

That would seem to imply that the team knows they need more talent at the position, but…

There’s no guarantee they sign a free agent

Hamilton’s already here as a starter in a pinch, and the Falcons have expressed an alarming amount of faith in Hughes, with King as a lottery ticket who could be an asset if he’s healthy. Unless the Falcons think they need a slam dunk starter, they’re probably not dipping into the free agency market at this point.

If they did, they’d almost certainly have to pry apart a contract or two. It’s worth noting that this team is not exactly loaded with 2025 cap space at this point and may be trying to avoid touching veteran contracts with an eye on contending the next two years and gradually retooling the roster around Michael Penix for 2026, which means they don’t want to be carrying big dead money hits from, say, Grady Jarrett and Jake Matthews in 2026 alongside the inevitable one for Kirk Cousins. That means that if they can, they need to leave those deals alone, which might take them out of the running for a free agent like Akhello Witherspoon unless he’s still there in the summertime and amenable to a dirt cheap deal.

If that’s the case and this depth chart is basically complete, what’s the plan?

Invest in growth

The Falcons have three former defensive backs coaches in addition to their current staff specializing in that, with head coach Raheem Morris, defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake, and assistant head coach Jerry Gray all having extensive experience with cornerbacks and safeties. That level of experience and expertise surely creates a certain level of confidence that this staff can get the best out of young players.

That’s likely the thought process now. The Falcons may well have intended to draft a cornerback and missed, but they’re very obviously not panicking about the prospect of Clark Phillips and Dee Alford winning starting jobs. Alford had shown plenty before his mysterious late season benching to think he can be a capable long-term nickel back, while Phillips showed flashes of real ability during his starting stint. If you like the players after watching and spending some time with them, and you think you have a staff capable of putting those players in a position to succeed, you’re not going to force an additional signing. If you really feel pretty good about Hamilton and Hughes as fallback options, that’s likely even more true.

We can’t rule out a signing yet and I’d welcome one, but if the months pass without a new face in the cornerback group, it will confirm that the Falcons feel fairly good about what they have and their ability to maximize the talent of who they have on hand. That’s one of several gambles the Falcons appear poised to take in 2024, and as is the case with the rest, we’ll have to hope their confidence in their own abilities is everything they believe it to be.