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Jason La Canfora has consistently been the reporter linking Dontari Poe to the Falcons. Whether he’s being led that way by an agent trying to dangle Poe in front of Atlanta, or whether Atlanta is genuinely interested, or some combination of the two, he’s stood by that since before free agency began.
If the Falcons are interested, they may want to get moving.
Dontari Poe in high demand. Visits Colts Sun, JAX, ATL, OAK and MIA wants visits as well. If Indy doesn't come correct he'll be traveling
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) March 11, 2017
The Colts are in desperate need of defensive help after former GM Ryan Grigson basically gutted the roster, so their interest in Poe is not surprising. The Jaguars and Raiders have plenty of money, the Dolphins want to be players, and the Falcons do need help at defensive tackle. All of these teams probably should be interested in Poe, at least at the right price, so all of this makes sense.
The Falcons don’t even have a visit lined up yet that we’re aware of, so they risk losing him to the Colts. Chances are they’re waiting to see what kind of market is developing for him and how much he’ll cost, given their fairly limited cap space, and will pursue other options if he winds up costing too much. That’s pretty straightforward, and it reflects the reality that if the Falcons can’t land a big-time run stopper in free agency they’ll likely try to groom one in the draft.
As we know by now, this isn’t a team about to get desperate, so we’ll see if Poe winds up taking a little less to sign with them. We’ll know more if he makes it out of Indianapolis on Sunday.