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ESPN Slams Atlanta Falcons Free Agency Class in Latest Rankings

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ESPN Slams Atlanta Falcons Free Agency Class in Latest Rankings


The biggest moves in NFL free agency have already been made, but the Atlanta Falcons were forced to watch from the sidelines with very-little salary cap space for the 2025 cycle.

They addressed some needs with linebacker Divine Deablo, edge rusher Leonard Floyd, and safety Jordan Fuller. However, ESPN’s Ben Solak was critical of the Falcons ability to sign players as well as who they signed.

Solak recently ranked all-32 NFL teams and their 2025 free agency classes on ESPN+, and he has the Falcons dead last at No. 32. He listed what he loved and didn’t love from each class. Atlanta entered free agency ranked between 30 and 31 in available-cap space according to Spotrac, and that helped shape the narrative for Solak.

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It was all downhill from there.

“Pretty much nothing,” Solak wrote about what he loved in the Falcons’ class

What he didn’t love? “Pretty much everything.”

Ouch.

Solak immediately took the Falcons to task for poor salary cap management before digging into the players Atlanta signed.

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“The Falcons walked into this cycle with a preposterously little amount of cap space for a team that hasn’t appeared in the playoffs for the past seven seasons,” wrote Solak. “But what they spent on doesn’t move the needle.”

The Atlanta Falcons are doing a good job of turning quarterback Kirk Cousins into the bad guy, but they’re the ones who signed him to a two-year guaranteed contract. Cousins’s money was always going to be part of 2025. That he’s not the starter has nothing to do with his cap hit, whether they trade him or not (a trade helps the 2026 cap).

Questions about why this team parlayed themselves into such a poor position are valid.

However, Solak may have let his disdain for Atlanta’s cap management bias his thoughts on the players they signed.

“Floyd is a Raheem Morris retread and lacks the pass-rush juice to save an anemic front four in Atlanta,” wrote Solak. “Morgan Fox was once a handy player, but is a few years beyond his prime. Deablo probably will not break the starting lineup behind Troy Andersen and Kaden Elliss. Fuller, another Morris retread, will have the same athletic limitations Justin Simmons did in 2024.”

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I feel salary cap management is a different category than scouting and signing. The Falcons did a poor job of allocating their resources last year and flushed up to $100 million down the drain on Cousins.

Given how poorly the Falcons played under previous defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake, upgrading the play at specific positions shouldn’t be overly difficult. Is Justin Simmons a better player than Jordan Fuller? Probably, but he didn’t very well last year.

Getting better play out of the safety spot from Fuller than Simmons in 2025 under new defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich isn’t a leap of faith, it’s almost a certainty.

Edge rusher? The Falcons sent a third-round pick to the Patriots for Matthew Judon to watch him chase running backs on wheel routes into the secondary. Is Leonard Floyd better than Judon? That one is up for debate, but Judon was poor for the Falcons. Floyd will play better at edge than Judon did.

With a one-year, $10-million deal when premier pass rushers are making $30-million-plus, Floyd isn’t being asked to save an anemic front four. He’s being counted on to improve it.

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As far as Deablo sitting behind Troy Andersen – Andersen has started six games in the last two seasons. Simply being healthy gives Deablo a leg up on Andersen. If Andersen is healthy, Ulbrich has one of the most athletic linebacker rooms in the NFL and gives Elliss the license to free lance on the pass rush more often.

The Falcons may have had the worst free agent group in the NFL, but it’s easy to see how the players Atlanta signed this month can help the team in 2025 without burdening them financially beyond this season.



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Atlanta, GA

Glass and water: Atlanta art exhibits show grief in Asian American community after deadly spa shootings

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Glass and water: Atlanta art exhibits show grief in Asian American community after deadly spa shootings


ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Flux Projects is a nonprofit organization in Atlanta trying to make art available to the community at no cost. It is a way for them to create a platform for people to have conversations.

They are continually working on a multi-year, multi-project series called “Flow,” exploring the different ways we use water to connect with nature, to grieve, to love. They partner with local artists to make it happen. The next installation will be coming up in Buckhead at the end of April. It is called “Braiding Time, Memory and Water.” It is a performance encouraging people to reconnect with nature.

“Today, we are in an installation called ‘Our Mothers Our Water, Our Peace.’ It is by a Korean American artist Gyun Hur,” said Flux Projects Executive Director Anne Archer Dennington.

These exhibits are also used to tell stories of grief.

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“Grief never leaves but it continues to flow,” said Archer Dennington.

Every glass teardrop looks like they are falling from the ceiling. Each one is filled with water from the Chattahoochee River. The installation is an effort to portray the grief within the Asian American community after the 2021 deadly shootings at metro Atlanta spas. On March 16, eight people were killed.

“Unless we remember these things, we run the risk of repeating them. It is very important, not only for the Asian American community to remember this story, but it is important for all of us to recognize it as part of Atlanta’s history and what has happened here,” said Archer Dennington.

The teardrops are in the musical pattern of “I Have Got Peace Like a River.”

Flow is a simple name. It is a simple way of talking about big issues that might be too heavy without the art that helps translate it.

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MLB power rankings: Perfect Padres throttle Braves to put Atlanta in early 2025 hole

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MLB power rankings: Perfect Padres throttle Braves to put Atlanta in early 2025 hole


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Sure, the Los Angeles Dodgers are unbeaten in five games and the New York Yankees can’t stop hitting home runs, but let’s pause to consider what the San Diego Padres have pulled off.

It’s not even April, and they’ve already clinched the season series against the Atlanta Braves – and cracked the top five in USA TODAY Sports’ first power rankings installment.

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Oh, it probably won’t matter, but it’s worth pondering that the most significant feat of this opening weekend was the Padres sweeping four games against Atlanta, marking six consecutive victories over them at Petco Park, dating to their wild-card steamrolling during last year’s playoffs.

Perhaps you might remember that: The Braves, New York Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks all had to wait until hurricane-delayed Games 161 and 162 were played to determine the final NL playoff spots. Sure, most tiebreakers don’t come into play, but with the Padres and Braves very likely slotting in wild-card spots this year, it’s not entirely meaningless.

Of greater note, San Diego’s throttling of Atlanta might at least force observers to recalibrate their expectations for both teams, with the Padres perhaps providing resistance to the Dodgers in the West, while the Braves are already a pace behind what should be an excellent three-team race in the East.

Then again, 158 games remain for both.

A look at our updated rankings:

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1. Los Angeles Dodgers

  • You might say they, uh, torpedoed Brewers pitching.

3. Philadelphia Phillies

  • Jesús Luzardo wins first start as Phillie.
  • Bullpen allowed one earned run in 16 innings.

5. Baltimore Orioles

  • Blasted 10 homers in four games against Toronto.

6. Texas Rangers

  • Jack Leiter did enough to win first start; can Kumar Rocker follow suit?

7. Arizona Diamondbacks

  • Next time, just start the guy you just gave $210 million.

8. New York Mets

  • Oh, they’ll hit soon enough.

9. Houston Astros

  • Spencer Arrighetti picks up where he left off after strong 2024 finish.

10. Detroit Tigers

  • They’re definitely done with the Dodgers.

11. Boston Red Sox

  • Rafael Devers doing anything but designated hitting: 0 for 16 with 12 strikeouts.
  • Ah yes, three games at the Dodgers should wash that 0-4 start right away.

13. Cincinnati Reds

  • It’d be a shame if relief woes sank an otherwise solid and charismatic roster.

14. Chicago Cubs

  • Relief acquisition Eli Morgan has given up six runs in 3 ⅔ innings.

15. Seattle Mariners

  • After four-run opening day explosion, they score two, zero and two runs against A’s.

16. Cleveland Guardians

  • Jose Ramírez’s wrist is barking a little bit.

17. Kansas City Royals

  • Tough opening series ends on grim note when pitch strikes Jonathan India in face.

18. Tampa Bay Rays

  • They embrace the great outdoors with two wins over Rockies, including walk-off homer.

19. San Francisco Giants

  • Maybe this Old Guys Rule rotation will work out.

20. St. Louis Cardinals

  • So far, their “reset” has resulted in a perfect record.

21. Toronto Blue Jays

  • The Max Scherzer thumb saga already getting painful.

22. Washington Nationals

  • Dylan Crews hitless in 11 at-bats, with eight strikeouts.

23. Minnesota Twins

  • Top prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez with a three-hit night in Class AAA opener.
  • We feel confident in saying they will not see the New York Yankees again this year.

25. Los Angeles Angels

  • Tim Anderson gets a nice welcome in return to Chicago’s Southside.

26. Athletics (Sacramento)

  • Their Yolo County Era begins this week.

27. Miami Marlins

  • Griff Conine hits game-tying homer on night his dad is inducted into club Hall of Fame.

28. Pittsburgh Pirates

  • First three losses all walk-offs. So they’re coming close.
  • Chase Dollander watch: Strikes out five in four innings of first Class AAA start.

30. Chicago White Sox

  • Clip and save this for posterity: Their 1.00 ERA leads the major leagues

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fastDownload for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.



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Atlanta, GA

Sister kills brother in Atlanta shooting, police say

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Sister kills brother in Atlanta shooting, police say


Police are investigating a deadly shooting at 110 Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard.

Atlanta police say they’re investigating a deadly shooting between a brother and sister.

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What we know:

Atlanta police responded to a shooting just before 4 p.m. at 110 Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard SW Sunday afternoon.

That’s where Andrew Smith, the commander of the Atlanta Police Department’s Homicide Unit, confirmed they found a man in his mid-40s suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

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Not only did the victim and suspected shooter know each other, Smith says they were siblings.

Police are investigating a deadly shooting at 110 Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard.

The victim’s sister has been taken to police headquarters for questioning.

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Police believe this was a domestic situation with no threat to the public. This is an ongoing investigation.

What we don’t know:

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It’s still not clear what led to the deadly shooting.

Neither the victim nor the suspected shooter have been publicly named.

The Source: This information has been confirmed by Andrew Smith, the commander of the Atlanta Police Department’s Homicide Unit.

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