Falcons Pry Ryan Nielsen Away from Saints

The Falcons have hired Ryan Nielsen away from the Saints for their defensive coordinator job. Atlanta announced the news on Friday evening.

Atlanta interviewed Nielsen on Tuesday, and the departure from New Orleans will now lead them to needing to fill a defensive line coach at a minimum. Nielsen had been part of the Saints defense since 2017, and he was a very important one. He and Kris Richard were co-defensive coordinators last season under Dennis Allen, and Richard has also drawn some outside interest from other teams.

Under Nielsen, the Saints saw some big resurgence and production from their defensive line. He used a heavy rotational approach with both the defensive line and tackles. He was also very active in play calls during training camp and the preseason, but most everything fell on Allen. It'll be interesting to see how New Orleans matches up against his defense twice each season.

If Richard does not get a job elsewhere, then it would make a lot of sense to have him be the team's defensive coordinator. Richard also does great work with the secondary. Losing him would be another big blow to the team.

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