Atlanta Falcons Lose Opportunity to Sign Demetress (Demetrius) Bell

In the window just after the Super Bowl and before Free-Agency, there was a lot of speculation going on as to who the Falcons may sign in free-agency, and what positions of need had players who could fill those voids. During this period, I wrote a piece talking about Bell and how I thought he would be a tremendous asset for the Falcons if he could stay healthy. Well, the Falcons remained stationary too long, and Bell was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles. Also after signing, Demetrius has decided to go by a new name, Demetress. New team, new name, Bell is going through a total overhaul.

The Eagles desperately needed Bell for a starting LT, and overall tackle depth after Jason Peters went down with a torn Achilles. However, I wonder if Bell was not a fit with this Falcons team, if his injury concerns were just too great for the Falcons to take a risk on him, why no real steps were made to try to sign Bell. I understand that players like Marcus McNeill and Bell went unsigned because they were demanding large amounts of money, and the longer they went unsigned the less money they would demand in free-agency. No doubt the Falcons wanted to get one of them for the right price, if they targeted one of them at all. McNeill is still on the market, but Atlanta gives no signs of moving towards signing him.

I wish I knew the grand scheme of what the Falcons plan is for left tackle in the future. Right now, things don’t look good. There is no elite left tackle that can be drafted, and if we wait for that player and he is there in 2013, it means Matt Ryan was beat up a good bit in 2012, and that the Falcons probably weren’t nearly as successful as anyone hoped. The sooner the LT position is solidified, the better.