The Atlanta Falcons' first free agency under Ian Cunningham helped to lay the groundwork for a more consequential offseason in 2027, but Atlanta may not be done yet. There's still plenty of great talent still available, so at the right price, Cunningham could easily make a couple more good value signings.
The Falcons' biggest move to date was Tua Tagovailoa, but besides that, Jahan Dotson, Brian Robinson Jr., and Christian Harris come to mind. So even though the chaos that comes with the opening wave of free agency is in the books, that doesn't mean this new regime is ready to roll over.
While speaking with the media during league meetings, Cunningham revealed that the Dirty Birds have a "second wave" of free agency interviews coming up, although he did not reveal any additional info like when these interviews are happening. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out.
The Atlanta Falcons are preparing to kick the tires on the second-wave free agent market
The Falcons restructured the contracts of Jake Matthews and A.J. Terrell for a reason. Cunningham and Kevin Stefanski aren't making moves for the sake of it. We knew then they probably had a trick up their sleeve, but this is official confirmation we have that Atlanta has more planned in free agency.
This likely won't happen until after the 2026 NFL Draft, and none of the moves made will be too major. The Falcons have defined their whole offseason approach around stacking up 2027 comp picks, they wouldn't want to undo that progress with a second-wave move that'll cancel out one of those picks.
The free agent market as a whole will pick up after the draft when teams are scrambling to fill the needs they neglected during the draft. But this may happen after June 1, when all post-June 1 cuts become official, but the FA boom may extend to the rest of the offseason until training camp begins.
Jalen Ramsey was traded to Pittsburgh in the middle of the summer last year, while JK Dobbins signed with the Denver Broncos in June. It's not crazy to suggest that the Falcons saving their cap space until later in the offseason can actually help them find some impact players at good value.
Guys like Bobby Wagner, Jauan Jennings, David Njoku, and D.J. Reader are among the best free agents available, and all of them would immediately start for the Falcons. There are plenty of ways for Atlanta to improve after the draft, especially since they only have five picks, so this is a good call.
Cunningham is right to exhaust all options and consider making some more big moves, so if the right opportunity arises to get better after the draft, you know this Falcons' new regime will jump at it.