Falcons sign pass rusher Smith after key losses

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  Marc RaimondiAug 18, 2026, 09:27 AM ET

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  Marc Raimondi's first year covering the Falcons was 2024, but it wasn't his first year at ESPN. He joined the company in 2019 and was a top combat sports reporter. He also covered professional wrestling and wrote the book "Say Hello to the Bad Guys: How Pro Wrestling's New World Order Changed America," which was published by Simon & Schuster in 2025. Raimondi also worked for the New York Post and Newsday, beginning in 2009, covering high school and college sports, plus the NFL, NFL, MLB and NHL.

The Atlanta Falcons are bringing in some help for their depleted pass rush, signing veteran Za'Darius Smith to a one-year contract, the team announced Tuesday.

Smith, a 33-year-old edge rusher who played last season with the Philadelphia Eagles, will make $6 million, a source told NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

He played under Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski while with the Cleveland Browns in 2023 and 2024.

Atlanta lost their two best pass rushers -- Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. -- for an extended period of time over the last two weeks. Walker tore his ACL in practice and will be out for the entire season, while Pearce was suspended by the NFL for the first eight games of 2026 due to a violation of the league's personal conduct policy following a domestic violence arrest in February.

Smith had just 1.5 sacks in five games last season, but he has 70.5 career sacks and three seasons with double-digit sacks. In 2024, he had nine sacks combined between stints with the Browns and Detroit Lions. Smith is a former second-team All-Pro selection whose career-high was 13.5 sacks with the Green Bay Packers in 2019.

He will join a group of veteran edge rushers -- Samson Ebukam, Azeez Ojulari and Cameron Thomas -- who were signed to one-year deals in the offseason and are looking for breakout seasons. The Falcons also have Bralen Trice, who has yet to play a regular-season NFL game after losing his first two seasons to back-to-back torn ACLs.

The Falcons had a franchise-record 57 sacks last season after nearly a decade of futility in getting to the quarterback. They were led by, among others, Pearce's 10.5 sacks and Walker's 5.5 sacks -- production they will need to find a way to replace. Brandon Dorlus had 8.5 sacks last season as an interior lineman and has been working this summer more as an end.