Dontari Poe unlikely to sign with Falcons, and why the defensive line market is moving slowly

The Atlanta Falcons will reportedly get a chance at Dontari Poe... if the Indianapolis Colts don’t want to pay him his asking price. I’d be a bit worried if the Colts say no to his price, but the Falcons are more than willing to cough up that money.

Don’t be surprised to see both teams ultimately pass. The market for linemen has been surprisingly sloooooooow.

In fact, there are already reports that the Falcons are unlikely to bring home the big guy.

Dave mentioned earlier that there are a ton of defensive tackles still available. The market is littered with older pass rushers, including some guys with a little juice left, like DeMarcus Ware, Chris Long, Elvis Dumervil, Connor Barwin, Mario Williams, and Paul Kruger.

What’s with this? In almost any other year, Jonathan Hankins would have signed a five-year deal days ago. Dontari Poe could be earning $10 million or more per year. Luckily, we have an idea.

Jeanna Thomas, writer here at the Falcoholic and SBN, had an interesting takeaway while at the NFL combine. She said multiple coaches and general managers said the draft is so deep at defensive end and defensive tackle in the draft, that they expect quality players available as late as the fourth round.

Dan Quinn has had ridiculous success with his young defensive players, so don’t be surprised to see the Falcons pass on paying veterans $30 million if he thinks he can get something comparable for $3 million in the draft.