After the Atlanta Falcons missed out on signing Dalvin Tomlinson yesterday, general manager Ian Cunningham was rightfully livid. They had the perfect fix to their defensive tackle issues available for the taking, yet Kevin Stefanski was unable to close the deal on a player he spent two years coaching.
Instead of reuniting with his former head coach, Tomlinson signed a one-year, $7.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Chargers, a team with more immediate playoff hopes. After he did that, Cunningham moved swiftly to find a different veteran DT for the Falcons, which he naturally found on the Chargers.
According to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, the Dirty Birds agreed to tems on a one-year deal worth $3 million with veteran defensive tackle Da'Shawn Hand. So not only was Cunningham able to come away with sneaky value, he managed to sign a productive defender for half the price of Tomlinson.
The Falcons agreed to terms with Da'Shawn Hand to fill their void at defensive tackle
Beyond pivoting to Hand's potential teammate in Los Angeles, Cunningham was able to put pen to paper with him not even four hours after Tomlinson signed. So he clearly knew what he was looking for at defensive tackle, and was willing to stay true to his offseason ideology to do so, which is a win.
The eight-year veteran spent 2025 with the Chargers, but has also had stints in Miami, Tennessee, and Detroit. Hand logged a career-best five quarterback hits, but his five tackles for loss also tied a career-high in 2024. And he did all of this despite missing the first month of the season due to injury.
The 30-year-old has the versatility to play off the edge, but has thrived in recent seasons since making the permanent transition to defensive tackle. He's also one of the better run stuffing defensive tackles in the NFL, which is exactly what the Falcons need given their struggles in that area.
Brandon Dorlus, Ruke Orhorhoro, and Zach Harrison are a solid trio, but LaCale London is expected to assume a larger role in 2026 after breaking out down the stretch. However, the DT group is very young, so Cunningham needed to replace David Onyemata as the resident run stuffer of the group.
Besides, the Falcons already lost Onyemata this offseason, so being able to replicate his experience with a younger, cheaper alternative makes for a low-risk, high-reward addition in Atlanta, especially if he and Samson Ebukam will become the mentors for Jeff Ulbrich's revamped defensive line.
Given the circumstances, the Alabama product is a really big get for the Falcons, whom I expect to fare just as well as his former college teammate would've on this defense.