FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Taylor Heinicke has lived seven minutes from the Falcons’ training facility for more than two years. He drove there for work for the first time on Thursday.
“Just two back roads and I’m here,” Heinicke said after signing the contract that officially made him a Falcon.
Heinicke has been in Washington the last three seasons, starting 24 games for the Commanders the last two years, and he entered the week thinking he was going to stay in Washington.
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“And then Atlanta comes in with a better offer,” he said.
Heinicke’s guaranteed salary in Atlanta (a $4 million signing bonus plus $2.3 million in guaranteed salary this season) almost equals his previous career earnings of $7.3 million. He will count $5 million against the Falcons’ salary cap this year and $9 million next year if he’s on the roster. Atlanta could cut Heinicke after the 2023 season and incur only $2 million in dead money.
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“My little nephew (18-month-old Jack Joseph) is going to get to come see me at training camp and at games now,” Heinicke said.
The former Collins Hill High School quarterback grew up in Suwanee, Ga., and then briefly lived with his sister in Flowery Branch after the XFL, the league he was playing in at the time, folded in 2020.
“She was saying that she was trying to start a family and I was like, ‘That’s my cue to get the hell out of here,’” he said. “I bought a house down the road.”
The Falcons signed Heinicke to be a backup to second-year quarterback Desmond Ridder, who started the final four games of the 2022 season, and they made that clear to Heinicke throughout the negotiation process.
“They drafted (Ridder) high last year for a reason,” Heinicke said. “They believe in him for a reason. He showed some good film last year. If something unfortunate happens to him, I’ll be ready to go. That’s kind of been my life the last three years. I will try to be the best backup I can to Desmond, try to help him any way I can.”
The drive to the Falcons’ facility was much longer Thursday for free-agent signees Jessie Bates, David Onyemata and Kaden Elliss. The three were stuck together in a van for two hours because of an accident on I-85 that blocked their path from a downtown Atlanta hotel to the team facility.
“I’m not sure what happened, but prayers to that family for sure,” Bates said.
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The trio talked about Elliss’ NFL pedigree (his father and one brother also played or play in the league) and Onyemata’s time growing up in Nigeria, where most of his family still lives, Bates said. They also talked about the things they liked and didn’t like from their previous stops — Cincinnati for Bates and New Orleans for Elliss and Onyemata.
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“A bunch of genuine conversations, not just to keep us busy while we were in the car, stuff I will remember and talk about when we go to OTAs and training camp and all that good stuff,” Bates said. “That is part of building a good team, getting to know your brother, getting to know where they come from.”
Jessie Bates sees potential in the Falcons, who hope to follow a similar path as his former team. (Kareem Elgazzar / USA Today)Bates is the biggest offseason addition for the Falcons. The 26-year-old safety was rated The Athletic’s No. 3 available free agent and signed a four-year deal worth up to $64 million.
“There were a lot of teams that were interested, but with the cap space and stuff like that, only certain teams could offer what they wanted to offer,” he said.
Bates was driving to get his car washed Tuesday when agent David Mulugheta FaceTimed to tell him about the deal. Mulugheta also represents Falcons Kyle Pitts, A.J. Terrell and Casey Hayward, and all three of those players encouraged Bates to come to Atlanta, Bates said.
“You look at the potential of this team and where we can get,” Bates said. “I’ve been through that transition year and winning the division and going to the playoffs and nobody knowing the Bengals were going to go to the Super Bowl. I think it’s a very similar situation here. This division is up in the air. It’s for us to take, but we all know that’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be tough, which is fine. The guys in this locker room are more than capable of winning this division.”
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Elliss, the son of former first-round pick Luther Elliss and brother of the Eagles’ Christian Elliss, signed a three-year deal worth up to $21.5 million. The linebacker had played his entire career in New Orleans where new defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen was the defensive line coach, and reuniting with Nielsen was important, Elliss said.
“Scheme was big for me because of the versatility I have put on tape,” Elliss said. “I didn’t really want to go somewhere I would get put in a box and I don’t get to do the multiple things that I think allow me to impact the game in a dominant way. As long as the contract worked out and Atlanta showed they were serious about pursuing me, I knew I would be very excited about pairing up with him again.”
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Elliss played defensive end, middle linebacker and weakside linebacker in New Orleans and had his breakout season last year, notching seven sacks and 10 quarterback hits in 11 starts.
He isn’t sure exactly how he’ll be used in Atlanta but is expecting a little bit of everything, he said.
“I can play on the line, outside linebacker, inside linebacker,” he said. “I know I have some things I can sharpen, but I have some pretty good traits, my hand usage, block destruction and pass rush. I’m excited to come use that however Nielsen and the staff want to use it.”
His first coaching, though, may come from former Falcons running back Jamal Anderson, who was his father’s roommate at the University of Utah before making Atlanta’s “Dirty Bird” celebration dance famous.
“I’ll have to get my dad to call him,” Kaden said. “I’m not the best dancer, so I’ll get some personal lessons.”
(Top photo of Taylor Heinicke: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
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