For a third-straight season, the Atlanta Falcons had a major injury within the defensive secondary. Safety Damontae Kazee suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in 2020, and now it sounds like he won’t be back in 2021.
According to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Kazee is not expected to be re-signed by Atlanta.
#Falcons starting S Damontae Kazee is not expected to re-sign with the team this offseason, source said. The three-year starter tore his Achilles this season, but recently received a 👍🏽 from Dr. Robert Anderson and will be cleared by training camp. pic.twitter.com/74nhkMWpPX
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 11, 2021
This comes a day after the team chose not to place the franchise tag on safety Keanu Neal and just a few weeks after Ricardo Allen was released. With Kazee likely out of the picture now too, safety becomes one of the Falcons’ biggest needs entering the start of the new league year.
Kazee’s best season came in 2018 when he recorded 60 solo tackles, seven interceptions, 10 passes defended and one forced fumble. Atlanta released veteran guard James Carpenter on Wednesday as the team tries to clear cap space for free agency.
The Falcons also re-signed kicker Younghoe Koo, DT Jacob Tuioti-Mariner, WR Christian Blake and CB Tyler Hall on Thursday afternoon.
