ESPN Links Falcons LB Kaden Elliss to Division Rival in Free Agency

Atlanta Falcons linebacker Kaden Elliss is a pending free agent this offseason, and the veteran defender has proven to be a crucial piece of this franchise over the last several years. With Jeff Ulbrich returning for 2026, there is still a chance that the team gets a deal done for their priority player.

ESPN projects that Elliss, who will turn 31 by the time next season starts, will be one of the three highest-paid off-ball linebackers in free agency, coming in behind Quay Walker and Devin Lloyd. For the Falcons, it is someone they want to hold onto.

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“I would love Kaden back. I think we all would,” the Falcons’ defensive coordinator said. “He is one of the most amazing human beings I've been around from a character standpoint. His influence on this group, not just from a football process standpoint, but to the way they parent their kids, the way they care for themselves as a man, all that in between, he's amazing.”

On the field, Elliss has been outstanding (and the model of consistency). He started every game of his contract, totaling 380 tackles, 12.5 sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.

“Then the mental processing that he has,” Ulbrich continued. “I've never had a line of scrimmage player run a defense. In a lot of our defenses, he was a line of scrimmage player. It's a testament to not only his intelligence, but it's probably a bigger testament to his process and how hard he worked at it. Elite communicator [and] mental processor. We put a lot on his plate, and he thrived.

“To replace Kaden would take more than one human being.”

Elliss signed a three-year, $21.5 million contract with the team out of free agency in 2023, with $10.16 guaranteed ($7.2 AAV). His next contract could fetch anywhere from $9 million to $12 million, and he will draw plenty of interest from contending teams with a need in the middle of their defenses.

“He’s a free agent. We will see how that goes moving forward,“ Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham said at the NFL Combine. “He’s a guy we’re evaluating. We feel like there are a lot of linebackers in this market, feel like we really have to look at our cap situation and our roster moving forward.“

In a separate piece from ESPN, Aaron Schatz linked Elliss to the Carolina Panthers, saying they would be his ‘best match.’

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“The Panthers could use another inside linebacker to play next to Trevin Wallace, and Elliss had over 100 tackles in each of the past three seasons. He also might be the best blitzing inside linebacker in the league right now, which would give defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero a very interesting option to juice up their pass rush,” Schatz wrote. “As an added bonus, signing Elliss would take away from a division rival. Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said that replacing Elliss would "take more than one human being.”

Legal tampering can officially get underway on March 9th, with free agency set to begin two days later. Retaining Elliss will be important for a Falcons team in a state of transition, but it may prove to be rather difficult.