As we gear up for free agency, it’s only right to start looking at players who might be good fits for our favorite team. We did that in late January when the Falcons first hired Kevin Stefanski, but hadn’t gone back and looked at impending free agents from the Jets who might be interested in reuniting with Jeff Ulbrich.
ESPN did that for us with one name, at least. Matt Bowen pulled together a list of 50 free agent players who would be ideal fits for teams, and the Falcons came up twice. The first was with Kyle Pitts—obvious but sensible—and the second is potential ex-Bronco John Franklin-Myers.
To quote Bowen:
Under coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, Franklin-Myers could be used as a versatile defender, playing as a nose or 5-technique in the base fronts while providing an interior rush out of sub-package personnel. He had 7.5 sacks and 23 pressures with the Broncos last season.
Myers spent 2021-2023 with Ulbrich in New York before joining the Broncos in 2024, and has had a quality career. The 288 pound defensive lineman is fresh off back-to-back seven sack seasons and posted five sack seasons twice with Ulbrich as his defensive coordinator. The Falcons could use more veteran talent along a young, talented front, and Franklin-Myers makes a ton of sense heading into his age 30 season.
What’s not to like? Franklin-Myers is coming off a season where he was penalized seven times, but that’s a significant outlier in his career. His missed tackle rate is a bit high for a guy playing close to the line of scrimmage and has been throughout his career, but his pass rush ability and power against the run balance that out pretty nicely in my estimation. Assuming the price is right, adding Franklin-Myers to a group featuring Ruke Orhorhorho, Brandon Dorlus (when he returns from injury), Zach Harrison, and restricted free agent LaCale London would be a smart move for a team seeking improvement up front.
This is a logical fit as promised by Bowen, in other words, and I’d be happy to see it happen.