Falcons cut DT Tyeler Davison

Tyeler Davison joined the Falcons back in 2019 to bolster a defensive line in major need of bolstering, and in his first two seasons in Atlanta he largely delivered on that. Davison started 27 games, played in 32, and was a solid defender against the run.

Last year, though, he fell out of the rotation late in the year, and it seemed obvious he’d be finding a new home in 2022. The Falcons made it official today, as Tori McElhaney writes the team has released Davison.

The 29-year-old defensive tackle was a savvy signing back in 2019 when the Falcons poached him from the division rival Saints, as they had been getting gashed on the ground routinely in 2018. Davison stabilized the line even if the rest of the team wasn’t all that great, becoming the epitome of the solid interior defensive lineman along the way. The problem for Davison was that he didn’t add much as a pass rusher and couldn’t afford any shaky stretches with a new coaching staff entering the picture in 2021, and with the team’s preferred options coming on strong, he wound up playing in just 12 games last season.

The Falcons will realize close to $4 million in cap savings with the move versus $1.2 million in dead money for 2022, and with the team looking to plug a lot of holes, a player they didn’t see as a key part of their defensive line rotation was an obvious cut. Davison can still offer teams a quality rotational run stopper and shouldn’t struggle to find work, though, and we wish him well wherever he lands.