Free safety Damontae Kazee, who is recovering nicely from his Achilles surgery, is moving on from the Falcons, his agent told the AJC on Thursday.
Kazee posted a crying-face meme above an empty locker on social media.
The hard-hitting Kazee was injured in the second quarter of the fourth game of the 2020 season, against Green Bay on Oct. 5.
Kazee is set to become a free agent Tuesday, but he wanted to return to the Falcons.
“I’m just waiting to see, hopefully come back to Atlanta,” Kazee told the AJC on Friday. “If not, I can go and play somewhere else, it doesn’t matter. I just want to get back on the football field.”
Kazee, who was a fifth-round pick out of San Diego State in 2017, is at the six-month mark of his rehab.
He played in 16 games and made one start as a rookie. In 2018, he took over at free safety after Ricardo Allen was injured and ended up tying for the NFL lead with seven interceptions.
In 2019, he started 14 of 16 games and had three interceptions and 74 tackles.
“I’ll be really ready when camp starts,” Kazee said. “I’m ahead right now. I had all of this time to get prepared.”
The Falcons currently have one safety on the roster, rookie Jaylinn Hawkins, and he’s a strong safety.
Keanu Neal and Sharrod Neasman also are set to become free agents. Allen was cut in a salary-cap move.
“He’ll be back,” former Falcons coach Dan Quinn said at the time of Kazee’s injury. “He’s as tough and as rugged as they come.”
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