Still reeling from a loss to the Titans Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons quickly moved to fill a sudden void left in the team’s defense after the injury of defensive lineman Grady Jarrett during that game.
The team announced this afternoon that it has acquired defensive lineman Kentavius Street and a 2025 7th-round draft pick from the Philadelphia Eagles, in exchange for the Falcons 6th round 2024 draft pick.
Street came to the Eagles as a free agent. In his short time with the Eagles, he started one game and appeared in eight total games. He has four tackles to his credit there.
The Falcons will be Street’s fourth team in his five-year history in the NFL. He started with the San Francisco 49ers (where he was drafted out of North Carolina State), then the New Orleans Saints, then the Eagles. He has 10.5 career sacks and 79 career tackles. His hometown is Douglas, Georgia.
The Falcons completed the acquisition before the 4 PM Tuesday trade deadline.
The Street acquisition adds a much-needed boost to the Falcons defensive line. Jarrett, a team veteran and key member of the team’s defense, suffered a torn ACL during Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans. News of the severity of Jarrett’s injury was broken by NFL insider Adam Schefter this morning, and the Falcons confirmed this afternoon that his injury would keep him off the field for the rest of the season.
Get well, @GradyJarrett!
Can’t wait for the climb back 😤 pic.twitter.com/xmOkzrSB1S
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) October 30, 2023
“To lose a guy like Grady, who’s such a great leader for us, a great player, is unfortunate, and it’s not going to take just one person to [replace Jarrett],” said Falcons head coach Arthur Smith at an afternoon press conference at Flowery Branch. He added that the team will work around his absence, and today’s Street acquisition is likely part of that work.
The loss of Jarrett isn’t the only fire the Falcons had to put out in the wake of Sunday’s 28-23 loss to the Titans.
The team is still sussing out who will be the starting quarterback at next Sunday’s game at home vs. the Minnesota Vikings. Starting quarterback Desmond Ridder was taken out of the game at halftime Sunday because of a concussion. He was cleared later to re-enter the game but stood on the sidelines while backup QB Taylor Heineke played the rest of the game.
Smith said Ridder’s health will be a determining factor in whether he will be cleared to play Sunday. A final decision will be made on Wednesday about who the game’s starting quarterback will be. Another injured Falcon, Drake London, will continue to be monitored as well. Smith said London’s groin injury was not as bad as feared.
Finally, in other Falcons news, the team announced it has released punter Pat O’ Donnell, and added linebacker Donovan Mutin to the team’s practice squad.