Atlanta Falcons: John Abraham returns with 3-year deal
Falcons defensive end Ray Edwards dunks fellow defensive end John Abraham during a postgame interview following a his best performance of the year in a 41-14 victory over the Jaguars at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com
The Falcons agreed to terms with defensive end John Abraham on a three-year contract on Friday.
Abraham, who turns 34 in May, has been the team’s top sacker since being acquired in a trade in 2006. He currently has 112 career sacks, 58.5 in six seasons with the Falcons.
He had 9.5 sacks last season.
The negotiations for Abraham to return were bumpy. The Falcons met with Abraham’s agent Rich Rosa in Indianapolis during the NFL scouting combine.
Two days earlier, Abraham, was a guest on the “2 Live Stews” radio show on 790 The Zone, sounded like he wanted to be paid “12 [million dollars]-plus” per season. Later, on his twitter account, he contended that he just wanted to get paid what he was worth.
Abraham wanted to stay with the Falcons all along. He had attracted some interest from Denver and Tennessee.
“I don’t want to go nowhere,” Abraham said. “I love Atlanta.”
Those initial discussions did not go well and Abraham became a free agent on Tuesday, when the NFL’s new business year started.
The Falcons wanted a deal that protected them if Abraham’s play slips. Abraham, who was on a snap count last season after suffering a groin injury against Philadelphia in the second game of the season, believes he’s playing at a high level.
Abraham’s numbers have not dipped. In his first three years with the Falcons he had 30.5 sacks. Over the past three seasons he had 28. Also, he has forced 17 fumbles during his stint with the Falcons.
Abraham said that he wanted to play another three seasons and this contract could allow him to achieve that goal.
Abraham was originally selected by the New York Jets in the first round (13th overall) of the 2000 NFL draft. He was acquired by the Falcons in exchange for a first round draft choice in a 2006 trade.
In 12 seasons, he has totaled 549 tackles (401 solo) with 112.0 sacks, 38 forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries, 19 passes defensed and one interception. Since sacks became an official statistic in 1982, Abraham’s 112.0 sacks rank 16th in NFL history.
He is also the NFL’s active sack leader.
Last season, Abraham had 31 tackles (24 solo) with 9.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
His 58.5 sacks ranks tied with Chuck Smith (1992-98) for second in franchise history.
He set a franchise record for most sacks in a single-season with 16.5 in 2008, topping Joel Williams who posted 16.0 in 1980.
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
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192 comments Add your comment
Snotty
March 18th, 2012
12:29 am
Send Abe packing, Dwight and Mathis both are out there. Good replacement for Abe. We need O line, cornerback, move Donta to safety and a outside linebacker to complement Spoon and Tatupu. Jury still out on Matty Ice and Burner, ice is melting and flame is about to go out. Let’s go Falcons
SawThat1nce
March 18th, 2012
8:50 am
Build a stronger OLine, Mr. Dimitrof.
Paddy
March 18th, 2012
12:22 pm
dino……..for some reason you don’t believe Julio Jones will be an outstanding player. What did you see in his play that no one else saw last season?
Our Updated Top 50 Free Agent List | Third Down Conversion
March 18th, 2012
1:04 pm
[...] 32. John Abraham (DE) - He’s getting up there in age (33), which drops him on our list. Nonetheless, he’s still a feared pass rusher in this league. [UPDATE: Re-signed with Atlanta] [...]
Najeh Davenpoop
March 18th, 2012
4:36 pm
The Falcons will never win the playoffs. Hop on the Hawks bandwagon while there’s still space.
JSS
March 18th, 2012
5:04 pm
Funny, the Julio revisionists act like he had Jerry Rice, Marvin Harrison, Calvin Johnson like season… He had a very good first season. That is especially relative to poor play in the first seasons by Roddy White and Michael Jenkins. His stand out game came against the simply horrid Indianapolis Colts secondary. Am I saying that Julio Jones is not a very good football talent? No, but at present, he’s no more special than Dez Bryant or Michael Crabtree (of course he’s not the head case of those two).
Cianfrogna
March 18th, 2012
7:59 pm
The picture is definitely Abe
cwltank
March 18th, 2012
9:35 pm
After injury Julio was just shy of 1000 yards. Jenkins never had over 700 yards. What else could the man do. His rookie season he posted over 995 yards. Like I stated many times before, either you are with them or against them. I hate bandwagoners, go cheer for another teams.
Rodney
March 18th, 2012
11:13 pm
I want to know if this is really going on. Falcons Make Trade For Osi Umenyiora – Falcons Life Forums
We will give up 2012 2nd. rd. & 2013 1st. rd.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT NEXT YEAR’S 1ST RD. GIVE UP 2012 3RD.
Sid
March 19th, 2012
1:54 am
Man…………..I promise you, Furman Bisher never wrote about “trimmed toenails”……….God Speed Furman!
Shultz: I don’t know why your butt isn’t already posting a tribute to one of the best sportswriters ever, get your ass out of the bed.
DLed……. oh, nevermind.
Tommy
March 19th, 2012
9:02 am
So, this was the “BIG” move to strengthen our defense??? Looks like Mr. Blanks promise to make this team more competitive was, as it always has been in Atlanta, just as empty as the Falcons defensive backfield….Unreal. It is becoming quiet clear that the upper office is content with placing a average to below average defense on the field. Not a chance that the Falcons win more than 9 games this year, which will palce them 3rd in the division. All other teams greatly improved and perhaps moved past us for 2012. Just sad!
RISEupNshine
March 19th, 2012
11:34 am
TD is smart. I guarantee you the 3 years is tied to productivity and 2 years longer than any other conctract Abe was offered. He knows he is on the downslide, but if he gets a guaranteed paycheck for 3 more years, then he would be crazy not to accept it. Plus if he is still productive the next 2, someone will be willing to trade something for that 3rd year. I’ll bet it’s like $2 mil gurantedd plus incentives, maxing out at about $5 per year.
Prime Time
March 19th, 2012
11:57 am
Who cares about the hbcu top 10 anything? They aint much better than the players that come out of Ga. High Schools.
Prime Time
March 19th, 2012
12:00 pm
Najeh, Hawks wont make it past the first round this year. 80%….wont make it past the 2nd round? 100%
Ivan
March 19th, 2012
12:39 pm
Bad signing, unless they didn’t pay too much. He’ll injur the groin area, again, early in the season, continuing the trend.
JSS
March 19th, 2012
12:55 pm
Funny, the NFL doesn’t seem to find HBCU players high school like… Don’t let the 21st century hit you face, Stephen Garcia, David Greene, Reggie Ball, and D.J. Shockley sure did benefit from all of that great D-1 football they played!
Joe Tess Fish House
March 19th, 2012
2:02 pm
Manning 2 Broncos. That opens the door 4 the Flacons 2 trade 4 Teabow!
BiggDawgK
March 19th, 2012
2:06 pm
How can Denver give manning a huge deal and still have a ton of salary cap room and cash and atlanta can’t even sign the old stiffs that haven’t won a playoff game?
PMC
March 19th, 2012
2:53 pm
Already on the Hawks bandwagon. Just don’t see this team doing much better until Dimitroff starts working on IMPROVING rather than maintaining the roster.
They didn’t have a starter at RG or LT last season. If Hawley’s play against Chicago is any indication, we missed at Center too.
Kobie
March 19th, 2012
2:55 pm
TD made off great with the Abraham contract.
http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/55657/john-abraham-didnt-get-12-million-a-year
Joe Tess Fish House
March 19th, 2012
2:57 pm
If the Flacons do not do N E thing 2 try N get Teabow I will 4ever give up on this team U can count on that I will never come back here 2 post cuz there will be nothing 2 post about
St Simons - we're on Island time
March 19th, 2012
3:22 pm
Manning to Denver
Teabow to Jacksonville
Bl Gabbert to Miami
Alex Smith stays put
Flynn to Seattle
you heard it here
zzzzzzzzzz
March 19th, 2012
4:20 pm
Is the Abraham re-signing supposed to excite me. Seriously, he is on the far downside in his career.
ROFL
March 19th, 2012
4:25 pm
Thank goodness some jackoff named joe tess fish house will be gone forever (if he’s not a liar). Falcons will not give one thought to signing tebow.
bye bye j t fish house. Take Alec Baldwin with you. He was supposed to leave the country after 2004 election. Another liar.
vw
March 19th, 2012
4:36 pm
Awesome. Good move
Najeh Davenpoop
March 19th, 2012
5:09 pm
Falcons should bring in Tebow.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 19th, 2012
5:10 pm
That post at 4:38 PM is not by me.
Double Zero Eight
March 19th, 2012
5:50 pm
It is now or never. Mattlanta needs to
win a playoff game. If he doesn’t win
one next year, it’s time to “unhitch the wagon”
from him.
We don’t stand a chance without vast improvement
in the O Line. Matt has to have time to plant his feet
to throw the ball deep. It does no good to have Julio
and Roddy if Ryanj can’t get the ball to them deep.
Black Mamba
March 19th, 2012
6:27 pm
We should trade our 2nd rd pick for Jonathan Stewart from the Panthers.
JSS
March 19th, 2012
6:41 pm
@ Najeh Davenpoop…
Most long time bloggers know you have an impostor by now… That poser needs to get a life!
JSS
March 19th, 2012
6:45 pm
ROFL…
Was he suppose to leave with all of those geniuses who said the Falcons were going to pay back the Packers, Saints, and get that seven year playoff monkey off their back? Stick to “hoping and praying,” it worked for Job…
BiggDawgK
March 19th, 2012
7:58 pm
I think joe tess fishhead’s comment at 2:57 counts as a contract. As long as Atlanta does not try to get Tebow he has agreed to never return to annoy Atlanta fans.
D Led please take note and hold him to his contractual agreement.
FL dawg
March 20th, 2012
8:11 am
Been a Falcon fan forever, but I can’t see Atl competing with NO, gonna be hard to keep up with Cam and the Bucs. If some bigtime playmakers don’t show up it’s gonna be one of those “sit down” yrs. GO Braves, at least they have a plan, 2 wildcard teams this yr in MLB.
D man
March 20th, 2012
9:04 am
Glad to have Abe stay. We are better with him than without him. Thanks for staying Abe…
Hamsnacker
March 20th, 2012
9:18 am
Garrard signed with Miami. Gabbert stays with Jax. You’re hearing wrong things there…
PMC
March 20th, 2012
9:38 am
Yeremiah Bell cut….. but yeah after resigning Decoud, I doubt the Falcons would go after him even though it would be an upgrade….
Tom G
March 20th, 2012
10:40 am
Orlando, do you think ATL could have any interest in Tebow? Not necessarily at QB but any position on field. Seems to be a rugged guy who will give you everything he’s got. Just wondering?
GameReviewer
March 20th, 2012
12:49 pm
Did Falcons management watch last years games? Did they check the stats?. This guy is completely USELESS. We had ZERO pass rush all year and they sign the same people(now older) to play again next year. Great idea. So why even change coaches, just keep the same team and people.
Michael Turner is also done. He has lost three steps, hits the hole barely moving, goes down when someone comes within 2 yards of his feet. Let’s sign him to a big deal too.
GameReviewer
March 20th, 2012
1:14 pm
Did you realize Abraham had ONE SACK against a playoff bound team in 2011? That ONE SACK came against Detroit. So when we really need a sack against a tough opponent, he doesn’t show up.
Still think it was a good idea to sign this guy again?
single white dove
March 20th, 2012
3:46 pm
Pete…
March 16th, 2012
2:50 pm
That picture is not Abe. It is Spoon.
Glad we got the predator back though.
Spoon does not wear the number 55!
Flo=Ri-Duh
March 21st, 2012
2:25 pm
Since Falcons don’t have any other realistic options to improve the position I am glad Abe is back.. I don’t understand why the Falcons have not resigned Lofton. When your “D” is average at best why do you let your best LB go to a competitor?
Ken Strickland
March 22nd, 2012
5:16 pm
What in the devil is going on here? I haven’t seen a single comment from those AINTS FANATICS that would blowing up our blogs this time of yr, WHERE ARE THEY, WHERE THEY AT?