In a petition filed following the February 7 incident during which Falcons edge rusher James Pearce Jr. allegedly rammed her car repeatedly, WNBA player Rickea Jackson told a court that she was “in fear of my life,” according to ESPN. She also said she believed that, without court intervention, “James will kill me.”
She further explained that Pearce “verbally and physically abused me on more than one occasion.”
Her request for a temporary protective order was previously granted. A permanent injunction hearing is set for April 21.
Currently, Pearce is not permitted to make contact with Jackson or to be within 500 feet of her home, 500 feet of her place of employment, or 100 feet of her vehicle.
Earlier this week, ESPN reported that at least seven 911 calls preceded Pearce’s arrest. He faces five felony counts from the February 7 incident. His lawyers have professed his innocence.
The NFL is reviewing the situation under the Personal Conduct Policy. Pearce could be placed on paid leave until the criminal case is resolved.
The Falcons also could cut him. If Pearce had been drafted in round seven of the 2025 draft and not round one, they surely would have by now.
That’s not a criticism of the Falcons. It’s a basic reality of pro football, for any team.
Falcons Clips
The Falcons are set to add some depth to their offensive line.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that they have agreed to terms with free agent Corey Levin. None of the terms of the deal have been reported or announced.
Levin was a 2017 sixth-round pick by the Titans and he’s played all 88 games of his NFL career with the team. Levin only started seven of those games, so he’ll be at home working behind a Falcons line that returns four starters and expects to get tackles Kaleb McGary and Storm Norton back from injuries that kept them out last year.
The move will also reunite Levin with offensive line coach Bill Callahan, who worked in the same role for the Titans for 23 games before leaving the team when his son Brian was fired as the team’s head coach last year.
It’s past 4 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, March 11, which means the new league year has begun.
With that, another quarterback is on the open market.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Falcons have released Kirk Cousins, making him a free agent after two seasons with the club.
Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million contract in the 2024 offseason to join the Falcons after six seasons with the Vikings. Coming off a torn Achilles suffered during the 2023 season, Cousins struggled in 2024, tossing a league-leading 16 interceptions despite starting just 14 games.
He performed better in 2025 after Michael Penix Jr. went down with a torn ACL, finishing the season having completed 61.7 percent of his passes for 1,721 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in 10 appearances and eight starts.
The Falcons were expected to release Cousins after this season and now that has come to pass. The club still has Penix and is set to add Tua Tagovailoa, who is expected to take the bulk of the offseason reps with Penix still rehabbing.
Cousins could be an intriguing option for a team looking for a bridge quarterback this offseason. The Falcons owe Cousins $10 million for 2026, which means Cousins could be had on an affordable deal — though not the kind of veterans’ minimum salary that Kyler Murray is likely to get on the open market.
UPDATE 4:35 p.m. ET: The Falcons have announced Cousins’ release with a post-June 1 designation. That move spreads out the cap hit for Cousins, with the club taking $22.5 million in dead money in 2026 before a $12.5 million cap hit in 2027. Cousins’ release will free $2.1 million against the cap in 2026 and $77.9 million against the cap in 2027.
Azeez Ojulari is headed back to Georgia.
Ojulari has agreed to a one-year deal with the Falcons, according to a report from NFL Media.
Ojulari, 25, was born and raised in Georgia before playing his college ball at the University of Georgia. He spent last season with the Eagles, appearing in just three games before missing the rest of the season with a hamstring injury.
A Giants second-round pick in 2021, Ojulari has appeared in 49 career games with 32 starts over his five-year career. He’s tallied 22.0 career sacks with 22 tackles for loss and 38 quarterback hits.
The Falcons are adding depth to their defensive line rotation.
Former Bears defensive tackle Chris Williams is signing a one-year, $2 million contract with the Falcons, his agents told Adam Schefter.
Last year the 6-foot-2, 298-pound Williams played in 14 regular-season games for the Bears, and he was on the field for 24 percent of defensive snaps in those games.
Williams originally made it to the NFL with the Colts in 2020 as an undrafted rookie out of Wagner College. He spent three seasons with the Colts and then was briefly on the Chiefs and Browns before Cleveland traded him to Chicago in 2024. Now he’ll compete for playing time in Atlanta.
The Bears are signing veteran defensive end Kentavius Street, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
Street, who turns 30 in May, played under Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen in 2022 with the Saints.
He has spent parts of the past three seasons with the Falcons. In 2025, Street joined the Falcons on Nov. 14 and played seven games, totaling 21 tackles and two sacks.
Street entered the league as a fourth-round pick of the 49ers in 2018, and he has also spent time with the Eagles.
In his career, Street has recorded 125 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 17 quarterback hits, two passes defensed and a forced fumble.
Linebacker Kaden Elliss is heading back to the Big Easy.
According to multiple reports, Elliss has agreed to a three-year, $33 million contract with the Saints. Elliss began his NFL career with the team in 2019 and has spent the last three seasons with their NFC South rivals in Atlanta.
Elliss was a 2019 seventh-round pick in New Orleans and progressed from a special teamer to having a role on defense before leaving for the Falcons. He started every game for the last three seasons and compiled 380 tackles, 12.5 sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in that action.
The Saints will be hoping to see a similar impact on their defense once Elliss is able to officially sign with the team.
Plenty of veteran quarterbacks are and will be available. The Steelers are sitting at the window, waiting for quarterback Aaron Rodgers to come home.
But as they press a collective nose against the glass, they’re also reportedly “nosing around” the quarterback market.
Mike Garafolo used that term during a Monday appearance on NFL Network in explaining that the Steelers know they need to have a “contingency plan” in place, if Rodgers decides to play for someone else — or to not play at all.
Either way, the clock is ticking. And potential options will be disappearing.
Kirk Cousins. Geno Smith. Joe Flacco. Just to name a few. Will any of them wait to see what Rodgers will do?
The Steelers shouldn’t be waiting. All due respect to the future first-ballot Hall of Famer, but Rodgers is a long way from the guy who won four MVP awards.
Really, who else is pursuing him? Last year, Rodgers was the Plan B if Matthew Stafford left the Rams. That’s it.
This year, the Cardinals make sense, but for the fact that they can just go ahead and renovate the basement of the NFC West.
The Dolphins have found a new kicker.
Zane Gonzalez has agreed to a one-year deal with Miami, according to agent Mike McCartney.
Gonzalez, 30, spent the latter half of last season kicking for the Falcons. He connected on 19-of-22 field goals and 17-of-18 extra points in nine games.
Gonzalez started his pro career as a Browns seventh-round pick in 2017. He then kicked for the Cardinals for a couple of years before missing the 2022 season with a quad injury and the 2023 season with another injury.
After 2021, he again appeared in a regular season game with Washington in 2024.
The Dolphins released former kicker Jason Sanders earlier this month after he missed the 2025 season due to injury.
The Cardinals will be cutting quarterback Kyler Murray, who’ll be available to any other team. The Cardinals, meanwhile, will need an available quarterback.
They have Jacoby Brissett under contract for 2026, at a base package of $5.44 million. They agreed to terms on Monday with Gardner Minshew, on a one-year, $8 million deal. (More on that coming in a bit.)
Brissett is generally expected to be gone. Minshew surely isn’t expected to be the starter. So what will the Cardinals do?
The answer could be Kirk Cousins.
New coach Mike LaFleur comes from the McVay-Shanahan hive. And they love them some Kirk Cousins.
He will be cut on Wednesday. He will be available to any team. And as LaFleur tries to install his offense, he’ll want a quarterback who can run it.
It would be interesting to see Cousins in the same division as McVay and Shanahan, playing both of them twice per year.
Cousins needs a landing spot. He needs a place where he’ll be the starter. In Arizona, he would be.
Money will be an issue. Cousins has perfected the art of getting paid. He’ll command more than the $10 million the Falcons owe him for 2026.
Look around. Where else would he be QB1? While the Steelers would be wise to drop the Aaron Rodgers torch and pivot to Cousins, they apparently won’t. The Jets are a possibility, especially with Cousins emerging as a potential media presence.
Still, the Cardinals have a clear vacancy at the top of the depth chart. Cousins would be an obvious choice to fill it.
