Falcons sign safety Dean Marlowe

The Atlanta Falcons have been visiting with a lot of free agents over the last few days. While we’re still waiting on news of Rashaan Evans and Damiere Byrd, Atlanta officially made another move on Thursday afternoon. This time, the team added Dean Marlowe, a veteran safety who mostly recently played for the Detroit Lions.

Marlowe started 9 games for the Lions in 2021, playing 65% of the total snaps on defense. He amassed 67 total tackles (37 solo) along with 2 PDs. He also flashed as a reserve in Buffalo during the 2020 season, with 2 INTs and 1.5 sacks on just 215 snaps. Marlowe graded out with a 61.0, according to PFF, putting him in the range of a solid starter.

Here’s Marlowe’s RAS score, which suggest that he’s a fairly average athlete with good size at 6’1, 203.

The Falcons suddenly have a pretty solid depth chart at safety after Marlowe’s addition:

• Richie Grant
• Jaylinn Hawkins
• Erik Harris
• Dean Marlowe

They’ve also got a couple of futures players in Dee Alford and Luther Kirk. All-in-all, this is group that might not wow anyone, but should be reliable enough to keep the defense from falling apart. That’s good news for Terry Fontenot, who seems to be addressing many of Atlanta’s needs with a solid vet or two. In theory, bolstering the depth chart in this manner should allow the Falcons to focus on selecting the best player available in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Join us in giving Dean Marlowe a warm welcome to Atlanta.