The Falcons signed a free agent! After a quiet first day of the legal tampering period, Terry Fontenot strikes in the early hours of Day 2, inking free agent linebacker Divine Deablo, per his agent via Adam Schefter.
While the Falcons have watched two of their most critical pieces in the trenches leave in free agency in Drew Dalman and Grady Jarreett, fans have wondered what the plan is to replace them. Deablo obviously doesn’t fill those voids, but he does fill a roster need.
According to reports, it’s a two-year, $14 million deal for Deablo, with $8 million in the first year. He dealt with injuries but started 14 games and had 63 tackles in 2024 and 106 tackles in 2023.
The Falcons were connected to two of the most high profile off-ball linebackers this free agency — Dre Greenlaw and Jamien Sherwood. Though they missed out on both, the Falcons clearly felt the position needed another body.
He was a safety in college at Virginia Tech but began his career as a wideout for the Hokies. Suffice to say, Diablo is very athletic for the linebacker position, originally drafted in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Raiders.
His best pro season came in 2023, when he racked up 106 tackles, four of them for loss, and a sack. The Falcons are adding some speed and athleticism to the position. I imagine Deablo will push for a starting role in Jeff Ulbirch’s defense, but the hope is still clearly that Troy Andersen can emerge as a star for this defense.
The Falcons invested a second-round pick in Andersen and have seen very little return on that investment because he’s struggled to stay on the field. I’m of the opinion that he can still be a good player in this league, but there’s no harm in bringing in some insurance if that doesn’t come to fruition. That seems to be what Deablo is, and perhaps it is a subpackage role too.
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