Should the Falcons sign Gosder Cherilus? No

One of the questions I often get from the bright-eyed legions of Falcons fans on Twitter is some variation of the question "will Atlanta sign Player X?" In many cases, I can understand the impetus for the question, but this is not one of those cases.

Simply put, signing Gosder Cherilus would be a bad move for this tackle-needy Falcons team, and while the desire to kick the tires is defensible given the team's needs, Cherilus is not the guy you want on this particular football team, for a couple of reasons.

1) He's declining

Cherilus was one of the tackles from the 2008 class who sort of panned out, but the decent contract the Colts gave him a couple of years back now looks borderline indefensible. He played a total of 29 games over the 2013 and 2014 seasons, but never at a particularly high level, and constant nagging injuries robbed him off a few games, including the Colts' playoff run.

His agent says he's healthy, but the Colts' willingness to cut him despite that speaks volumes about his level of play.

2) He's not a great fit for this scheme

Jake Matthews is listed at 309. Ryan Schraeder is 307. Tyler Polumbus is 308. The slimmed down version of Lamar Holmes is heavier than that, but much lighter than his listed 333 pound weight from 2014.

Kyle Shanahan's favored zone blocking scheme requires linemen who are at least light on their feet, and that's not an apt description for the 325 pound Cherilus. Toss in his age (31), the fact that he's coming off of injuries that ended his season, and you've got a player the Falcons should be seeking to avoid.

If the Falcons want to add depth, they can get Cherilus for cheap and they think they can plug him in, I'm all for it. But this just isn't a signing that makes a ton of sense on paper, and I don't expect it to happen.