The One Defensive Move Falcons Clearly Won't Make Floated as Possiblility

The Atlanta Falcons could be in for another offseason with significant defensive changes.

Little salary cap space and draft picks will place a limit on what the team can do. But at the very least, the Falcons will undergo alterations in their secondary because of free agency.

One defensive back the Falcons have under contract for 2025 is safety Jessie Bates. However, Bleacher Report's NFL Scouting Department floated the possibility of the Falcons trading Bates this offseason.

BR named Bates one of the top three trade targets for the Indianapolis Colts this spring.

"[Trading Bates] would provide some cap relief if Atlanta traded him," wrote BR's staff.

Overall, Bleacher Report does a great job covering the entire NFL. But their staff missed on this prediction.

Bates has been and should remain the center piece of the Falcons defense. He made second-team All-Pro and the Pro Bowl during his first season with the team in 2023.

He didn't receive any post-season recognition in 2024, but he was still Atlanta's best defender. In 17 games this past season, Bates had 102 combined tackles, including two tackles for loss, four interceptions and 10 pass defenses.

Bates turns 28 years old on Feb. 26. So, he's still in his prime, and he has two years remaining on the four-year, $64 million deal he signed in 2023.

One could argue that Bates counting as a $22.25 million cap hit in 2025 isn't the best allocation of the salary cap. The Falcons are in a precarious cap situation this offseason, which has put their recent free agent deals further under the microscope.

But the deal is already done, and Bates is playing very well for Atlanta. The Falcons need to build the rest of their defense around him for at least the next two years.

Even if they wanted to trade Bates, which they shouldn't, a trade wouldn't give the Falcons additional cap space.

"He has a $14 million salary, and $16.5 million on the books they've already paid," argued SI on Falcons' Scott Kennedy. "Falcons would be $2.5 million in the red if they made that trade, assuming the Colts pick up his entire base salary."

Very often in NFL trades, the team receiving the player doesn't retain the entire base salary.

The Falcons could deal Bates for draft capital but for what purpose? They'd just be creating a roster hole for the chance to fill a different hole.

It's probably not fair to say Bates is as off limits in trade negotiations as Michael Penix Jr., Bijan Robinson or Drake London. But if he's not at that level, he's not far off.

A lot of potential moves are on the table for the Falcons this offseason. Trading Bates is not one of them.