Atlanta Falcons Free Agent Preview: Sean Weatherspoon

Welcome to the second part of an Atlanta Falcons free agency preview. In this series, we will be going over each player that had their contracts expire after week 17 of this season.

(first part, Osi Umenyiora here)

"TEAM FREE AGENCY PREVIEW (included in every article of series)There is no hiding the fact that this team is going to look new, fresh, even strange. We will not be seeing Mike Smith on the sidelines anymore, but a new face. Dimitroff and the new coaches are going to want to make changes for the city of Atlanta. Players will be released, they won’t be resigned, and new athletes will come in.Keep in mind that this isn’t a team that is rebuilding. This is a team that has one of the better, if not the best, quarterbacks in the NFL in Matt Ryan, arguably the best wide receiver in the league in Julio Jones, and a play-making cornerback, Desmond Trufant."

Atlanta Falcons LB: Sean Weatherspoon

This is a pretty straightforward situation.

If Weatherspoon is willing to take a one year offer for less than 4 million dollars, sign the man. If he wants a long term contact (let’s hope his agent isn’t foolish), there isn’t a “need” for Sean Weatherspoon.

In his four year stint with the Atlanta Falcons, Weatherspoon has only had one season where he was able to play all 16 games. That was the season where he finished the season with 115 tackles, four sacks, and one fumble recovery.

If 56 can stay healthy, the Falcons have themselves one of the much better inside or outside linebackers in the league. For what he has shown he deserves at least 3 million for a one year contract, but he shouldn’t expect much more than a one year contract. A player can be talented all they want (Danario Alexander, Robert Griffin III, Sam Bradford), but injuries will haunt you and ruin your career. This is the current case of Sean Weatherspoon.

Prediction: 1 year, $3,000,000 contract.