Free agent pass rusher Arnold Ebiketie is heading to Philadelphia.
Ebiketie has agreed to a one-year deal with the Eagles, giving Philadelphia some additional depth in its pass rush.
It will be something of a homecoming for Ebiketie, who played his college football at Temple and then transferred to Penn State. He’s originally from Cameroon.
The 27-year-old Ebiketie has played his entire four-year career for the Falcons, who drafted him in the second round in 2022. He has 16.5 sacks while playing primarily as a situational pass rusher. Last season he played in all 17 games for the Falcons and was on the field for 35 percent of Atlanta’s defensive snaps.
Ebiketie is No. 66 on our list of the NFL’s Top 100 free agents.
Falcons Clips
The Cardinals made a pair of moves involving offensive linemen on Thursday.
They announced the signing of veteran Elijah Wilkinson. They also released Evan Brown.
Wilkinson is a familiar face in Arizona. He played in 10 games and made nine starts for the team during the 2023 season. Wilkinson moved on to Atlanta and started all 17 games at right tackle last season.
Wilkinson also saw action at guard for the Falcons in 2022 and saw action at both positions during stints with the Bears and Broncos earlier in his career.
Brown started 28 games at guard in Arizona the last two seasons. He’s played 85 overall games for the Cardinals, Seahawks, Lions, Browns, Dolphins and Giants.
The Falcons are adding another edge rushing option to their defense.
Agent Cameron Foster told Adam Schefter of ESPN that his client Samson Ebukam has agreed to terms with the Falcons. Those terms have not been announced.
Ebukam missed the entire 2024 season with a torn Achilles, but returned to play in 14 games for the Colts last season. He had 33 tackles and two sacks in that action, but had 9.5 sacks for the Colts in 2023.
The Falcons drafted Jalon Walker and James Pearce in the first round of the 2025 draft, but Pearce could be unavailable due to discipline from a February arrest on battery and stalking charges. They have also agreed to terms with Azeez Ojulari and Cameron Thomas this week.
The Falcons will have defensive lineman LaCale London back in 2026.
They announced London’s re-signing on Thursday morning. They did not announce any terms of the deal.
London had 30 tackles, five sacks and a forced fumble in 13 games during the 2025 season. The starts were the first of a career that’s also seen London play in seven games for the Falcons in 2023 and one game for the Bears in 2021.
The Falcons have made several additions to their front seven this week. They’ve agreed to terms with Chris Williams, Azeez Ojulari, Cameron Thomas, Channing Tindall, and Christian Harris while David Onyemata and Kaden Elliss have moved on.
The Cardinals released quarterback Kyler Murray the moment the clock struck 4:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday to start the new league year. The Dolphins at least slept on it before cutting the cord on quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa was released on Thursday morning.
Not that they had a decision to make with the benefit of some beauty rest. Or that they needed to dump his salary for cap purposes. By using the post-June 1 designation, he’ll remain on the books at his current salary until June 1.
Per the team, Tua’s 2026 option bonus was exercised prior to his release. That reduces the 2026 dead-money charge from $67.4 million to $55.2 million, and it increases the 2027 charge from $31.8 million to $43.8 million. It adds up to a record $99.2 million in cap charges over the next two years — due in large part to the fact that the Dolphins owe him $54 million this year.
That’s the better way to handle it. With the cap going up every year, the 2027 cap dollars will have a smaller relative impact than they’d have in 2026.
Regardless, one of the worst contracts in recent history, if not ever, has been terminated. The Dolphins, who were bidding against no one, gave Tua a market-level deal while he had a year left on his first-round rookie contract. It’s enough to justify firing former G.M. Chris Grier again, frankly.
Tua is now free to sign with anyone. He’s expected to agree to terms with the Falcons. There’s no reason to do anything other than a one-year, $1.3 million deal, with the Dolphins paying the $52.7 million balance.
The Ravens are making an addition to their offensive line.
According to multiple reports, they have agreed to terms with Jovaughn Gwyn. It is a one-year deal for the former Falcon in Baltimore.
Gwyn only played in two games during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, but appeared in all 17 games for the Falcons during the 2025 season. He played 11 offensive snaps and 73 special teams snaps in those appearances.
The move to Baltimore will allow Gwyn to keep working with offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford, who joined the Ravens’ staff after spending the last five years coaching the offensive line in Atlanta.
Yes, quarterback Kyler Murray will visit the Vikings on Thursday — his agent, Erik Burkhardt, has confirmed that to NFL Media.
But here’s the interesting twist, via Tom Pelissero of NFL Media: Burkhardt told him that Murray plans to meet by Zoom on Wednesday night and Thursday with executives from three to five teams that potentially have a quarterback need in 2027.
Possibilities (as we see it) include the Jets, the Steelers, the Browns, the Falcons, and the Rams.
It gives Murray an opportunity to get a head start on free agency next year, which underscores the likelihood he’ll sign a one-year, $1.3 million deal for 2026.
That makes a no-tag clause critical. He needs to be able to hit the market next year, if for whatever reason he plays well and doesn’t get a solid offer to stick around with the Vikings, or whoever he signs with.
The Vikings continue to be the clear favorite. There’s really no one else. And, as of last season near the trade deadline, the Vikings were one of the teams in which Murray was interested.
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.
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.
