The Atlanta Falcons made their share of cuts recently. But the injury loss of a lineman put them in a position of need. They took a step toward rectifying that issue by acquiring a young offensive tackle from the Seahawks, according to a post on X by Tom Pelissero.
“Trade! The #Seahawks are sending OT Michael Jerrell to the #Falcons for a conditional 2027 seventh-round pick, per source.”
The Seahawks grabbed Jerrell in the sixth round of last year’s draft. He appeared in 10 games, starting three times.
Falcons make deal for OT Michael Jerrell
Jerrell played mostly at right tackle last year. He had a 46.4 Pro Football Focus grade, ranking 82nd out of 86 NFL offensive tackles who played at least 250 snaps.
Part of the reason the Falcons made the deal came from the injury loss to Kaleb McGary. He was expected to start at right tackle and will miss a lot of time, according to atlantafalcons.com.
“The thing I will say to you now is that he will miss significant time,” Morris said following Friday night's final preseason game in Dallas. “Looks like it will be IR, whatever the case may be, we will have to see there, but he will miss significant time for us.”
This moved Elijah Wilkinson into the mix at right tackle. He had been slated to the backup at left guard.
“Elijah has played a lot of football in the National Football League,” Morris said. “He's played a lot for us. He's been here with us throughout the course of the last year, throughout the course of this year. And we are fired up to get those guys out there. And watch those guys play and compete to see who's going to be able to go out there vs. Tampa.”
Adding Jerrell eases the strain of McGary’s absence. And it also gives the Falcons more depth for a unit that must protect second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The Falcons are expected to compete for a playoff spot, and their offensive unit should be the prime reason they can stay in most games.
