Falcons sign draft pick to four-year deal
The Atlanta Falcons wasted no time securing the foreseeable future with their first-round selection, safety Keanu Neal.
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The news was broken by the Falcons team website:
“The Atlanta Falcons today announced that they have agreed to terms with first round draft pick (17th overall) safety Keanu Neal. He is the only first round pick of the 2016 NFL Draft class to agree to terms on his contract.”
After the Falcons took Neal, there was no shortage of critics, as he was widely projected to be a late-first or second-round selection, so it’s easy to believe the Falcons could have traded him down to add him later.
Dan Quinn’s trying to build a defense in Atlanta like he had when he was the defensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks. But comparing Neal to hard-hitting safety Kam Chancellor is a stretch, as few safeties have ever played the way Chancellor has.
Many were certain the Falcons would take a pass-rusher in the first-round, but it appears they were happy enough with the free agent additions of Derrick Shelby, Sean Weatherspoon and Courtney Upshaw.
Then again, just how often do we see critics pan selections, only for them to prove doubters wrong (Ryan Tannehill and Bruce Irvin come to mind,) while “safe” picks like JaMarcus Russell and Ryan Leaf failing to pan out.
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