The Atlanta Falcons signed Dontari Poe for the same amount of money as the Chiefs signed Bennie Logan for.
The Dontari Poe free agent express has finally slowed to a halt, and the Atlanta Falcons are the winning suitors, signing the former Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle to a 1-year, $8 million deal. If that sounds familiar, it’s because, at least according to these early rumors, it’s the exact same deal that Chiefs general manager John Dorsey gave Bennie Logan.
The Brotherhood just got a whole lot bigger!
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) March 16, 2017
We have agreed to terms with @PoeMans_dream.
DETAILS- https://t.co/tuLJV52FNY pic.twitter.com/NWN1m2qgm2
Falcons gave former Chiefs' DT Dontari Poe a one-year, $8 million deal that could increase to $10M with incentives, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 16, 2017
Poe signed with the Falcons after visiting the Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins. The Oakland Raiders were also reportedly interested. Earlier in the week, Dan Quinn said the Falcons had a “good visit” with Poe. By joining the Falcons, Poe is reunited with the general manager who first selected him, Scott Pioli. Pioli is an executive in the Falcons front office alongside Thomas Dimitroff, the team’s general manager.
Poe was allowed to explore free agency after the Chiefs failed to use the franchise tag on him, but left the door open for him to return under the right terms. What’s interesting here is that he ended up signing for the same amount as Bennie Logan got from the Chiefs. Dorsey signed Logan earlier this week to a 1-year, $8 million deal to replace Poe and help with the team’s run defense along the line.
Reading between the lines here, the message likely depends on what you believe to be true about Dorsey. If you think that Dorsey is good at his job, then he knew that Poe wasn’t going to get what he wanted, so he left the door open in case he couldn’t land another player he wanted (e.g. Logan). However, when he could afford Logan, he took the chance and shut the door on Poe’s potential return. In short, Dorsey wanted Logan more than Poe going forward.
However, if you doubt Dorsey, then you might put this as a feather in your cap for misreading the market. This negative slant would believe that Dorsey thought Poe would get too expensive, so he hurried up to sign a guy who could help ease the loss of Poe, only to then watch Poe himself sign for that exact same amount. Now both players will hit the open market again next offseason.
Poe had 27 tackles last season for the Chiefs and will help the team replace Tyson Jackson, who was let go from the NFC champs earlier this offseason.