FalcFans Forums

Some names that have been cut in the past few days that could draw the Falcons interest are:

Vonnie Holliday
Omar Stoutmire
Terry Cousin

Holliday has played his entire NFL career at DE, but he played DT in college. He measures at 6-5/290, and could help the pass rush on the inside. Of course, it will depend on how much he wants in contract. Most likely you'll see him get a middle-level deal this off-season, much like Ebenezer Ekuban got from Cleveland a year ago. Holliday was a player that shined early in Green Bay, but mostly because he played alongside Reggie White. Over his first 6 seasons in the league, he averaged over 6 sacks per year, but last year in 9 games he did not record a single one.

Stoutmire is a starting caliber FS. I think he's a better fit as a dime back, but he can start in a pinch. Depending on how the roster shakes up at the safety position this off-season, might mean the Falcons could be interested in bringing in Stoutmire as a possible stopgap. Personally I'd prefer Beasley over him at that spot, but I can live with Stoutmire if he's keeping the position warm for a young rookie.

Cousin is a steady vet, that is best as a nickel guy. He played for the Falcons a few years back with not very good results, but since then he's improved. He was probably the Panthers best cornerback in their Super Bowl season 2 years ago. He's not a starter, but he could be just as effective as Mathis in the nickel spot, and if Mathis is not re-signed, his presence would definitely boost depth.

None of the three really do anything for me. I'd rather take my chances in the draft than invest in those guys....

Cap, I too would still want to address all those positions in the draft, but I'm not going to enter April hoping the team is going to draft several or more rookies that will start.

If we have all our starting positions settled before April, it makes drafting so much easier, because it allows us to take the best player available, even more so than before.

I don't see any of these guys as long-term solutions, but possibly guys that can be stopgaps for 1 or 2 years until our young guys develop.

More names to add:

S Arturo Freeman
LB Nate Wayne
QB Jay Fiedler

Freeman is an undersized safety, but can play FS or SS, and has good upside. He's a tough run stopper and I think he will be a good fit in Atlanta. He may not be the type of player that is going to be a superstar, but he's a young guy with potential to improve. He wouldn't solve our problems at safety, but it would probably at least mean we could focus on other positions on the 1st day of the draft.

Wayne, I'm not sure where he would fit in Atlanta. But he's a guy that has played for Donatell before, and had success in Green Bay under Donatell. He's a natural WILL guy, and we already have Brooking. But if you just look at his #s from the 3 years in Green Bay, you can't help but think maybe we bring him in here:

300 tackles, 10 sacks, 6 INT, 17 PD, 5 FF, 5 FR.

That of course averages to about 100 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 2 INT, 6 PD, 2 FF, and 2 FR per year. That's great production. Brooking's from last year was 101 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 3 INT, 3 PD, 2 FF, and 1 FR.

I'd like to see what Demorrio can do at the SLB spot, but Wayne I think could work just as well. Neither are ideal fits at that position, but I think having those 3 guys as our LBs, would give us optimum speed at the position. Or maybe Wayne can come in and play MLB. I don't know, but I think having him on this team gives us options. I wouldn't pay an arm and a leg to get Wayne, but I think at the very least he could be as effective as Draft in the middle, and has a good history with the DC.

As for Fiedler, I throw his name out there because most of you know that I want this team to pursue a veteran backup QB, and I think Fiedler is not a bad option. His past 2 years in Miami definitely weren't spectacular, but I think coming off the bench he'd be a good option. He's shown that with a strong running attack, he can win football games. From 2000-03, he was 34-18 as a starter. And even Vick wouldn't have been good with the Dolphins this past year.

Another guy I saw was Wiley, DE from the Cowboys. He is coming off a huge let down of a huge contract so maybe we sign him on the cheap, let him make a name for himself for a year and let him go to greener pastures. This of course does little to help our DT problem, still think Hovan might help us there. Maybe Travis Hall can go back to DT part time?

Freeman is one that really intrigues me. I think he would be an easy upgrade to Cory Hall...

Wiley would be an option at LDE, but I don't think he'd be an upgrade over Brady Smith. I really haven't seen much from Marcellus Wiley in recent years that precludes me to believe he's still the same player that had 13 sacks in 2001.

Since then, he's only tallied 12 sacks. If he were to sign for a minimum deal, then maybe I'd accept him, but he's really just a backup at this point in his career it seems.

I don't like Hovan. He's been virtually invisible the past 2 seasons in Minnesota. He's probably going to get paid this off-season because the DT market is a hot commodity, but he hasn't shown up to play since 2002. At that point, I thought he was developing into one of the premier DTs in the league.

He could change his stripes here in Atlanta, but it seems that over the past 2 years he's been more interesting in being a weight lifter than football player.

I really think the Falcons need to look at other options at DT. And I still think Rodney Bailey is probably the best option we can get. I'll keep mentioning his name until he's signed