Report: Falcons rejected trade offers for Vic Beasley Jr.

Ian Rapoport, one of the most plugged-in guys in the NFL, has reported that the Falcons received trade offers for pass-rusher Vic Beasley before the deadline on Tuesday. They didn’t pull the trigger on any of those, and decided to stick with the former first-round pick out of Clemson, however.

To put it bluntly, Beasley hasn’t been good this season — he’s registered one sack, has just six tackles (and only one in the past month) and has hit the opposing quarterback just three times despite having “rush the passer” as the premier statement of his job description. He has been getting close in recent weeks, but the team has needed a lot more than that.

Beasley is also graded out as the worst edge rusher in the NFL by Pro Football Focus, with his 42.3 grade good for 104th out of 104 qualifying edge rushers. There just hasn’t been a lot to like about his 2018.

We have no idea what offer the Falcons received or from which team, but Rapoport’s report is an indication that Atlanta isn’t ready to throw in the towel on the Vic Beasley project just yet. That may be because this team has been reluctant to do anything that would indicate they’re giving up on the season, or because Dan Quinn and company continue to have deep faith in their own players. They’ll use the final nine games to determine whether Beasley can deliver the kind of impact they’re looking for, or if they’re going to look to move on during an offseason where they need to make some significant additions to the defensive line either way.

Beasley had his fifth-year option for next season picked up, and is set to make $12.8 million from it in 2019. The team will have the ability to cut him, or trade him this offseason, and clear all of that money from the books, however. We’ll see what happens in the weeks ahead.