Falcons are clear winners of the Gervon Dexter trade after monster extension

In his first offseason as the general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, Ian Cunningham has made his fair share of good trades, but acquiring Gervon Dexter from the Chicago Bears has to take the cake, as it took just three games for the Falcons to see enough to sign him to a long-term contract.

Atlanta agreed to a four-year, $78 million extension with their star defensive tackle, clearly showing they coveted him enough to want him in their long-term plans. And that's making the trade itself age even better since all the Falcons gave up to acquire Dexter was Clark Phillips III and a fifth-round pick.

They basically gave up nothing to bring in a player who has altered the complexion of their entire defense this year. With both Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. sidelined, Dexter has stepped up as their top pass-rusher, as he's amassed 14 pressures in 2026 and 12 in the last two weeks alone.

The Florida product is now under contract through 2031 and is now the 21st-highest paid defensive tackle in the league. Safe to say this trade was a win after Ian Cunningham helped draft him in Chicago.

The Atlanta Falcons fleeced the Chicago Bears to acquire Gervon Dexter

Let's just talk about that return haul. Phillips was on the roster bubble and likely wasn't making the team, and Dexter is far better than any player you could draft in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. It was considered an absolute heist then and giving him $19.5 million a year is making it look even better.

Gervon Dexter has been one of the best defensive tackles in football this season, and that's not hyperbole. If you watch him, you see the impact he's made. Let me once again turn up to the rep against the Packers where he got into the backfield untouched on fourth and short which saw Jordan Love make an errant throw across his body, forcing a turnover on downs in the red zone.

Entering Week 4, the 24-year-old's 14 pressures are tied for seventh among all defensive players and tied for second among interior DL (with Deone Walker) only behind Zach Allen. He also leads all DL with a 23.3 pass-rush win rate. That's even better than Aaron Donald. Moreover, his 20.5% QB pressure rate ranks eighth in the NFL

This guy has been an absolute miracle worker on the defensive line next to Brandon Dorlus. Meanwhile, Phillips has played just 14 total snaps as a Bear this season, and none of them came on defense. He's really only a depth corner and special teamer at this stage of his career, yet the Dirty Birds managed to turn him and a Day 3 pick into one of their most important defensive players.

The Bears only traded him because he was never a fit for what Dennis Allen wanted to run (he prefers smaller defensive linemen), while Cunningham and this new Falcons regime prefer bigger, explosive guys on the line, and working with Nate Ollie has unlocked a version of him we didn't know was there.

It still baffles me why Chicago was shopping him for so long and let him go for so cheap, but the Atlanta Falcons aren't complaining. Thanks to Ryan Poles, they pulled off one of the biggest heists of the season just weeks it started--and it took just three games for their new strategies to pay off.

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