FLOWERY BRANCH — Leonard Floyd got right to the point Tuesday during his introductory news conference as a Falcon.
“I like to say I’m a smoking gun,” he said. “I’m a smoking gun. You feel me? I’m going to go out and prove that and show that.”
The 32-year-old edge rusher signed a one-year, $10 million deal and joins an organization where he has several close ties:
-Coach Raheem Morris was his defensive coordinator with the Rams in 2021-22.
-Vice president of football operations Ryan Pace was the general manager of the Bears when Floyd was drafted ninth overall in 2016.
-Floyd is an Atlanta native who was raised in Eastman, played at Dodge County High and played collegiately at the University of Georgia.
“It feels great to be back in my home state, playing for my home team,” Floyd said. “Through the process, it went by pretty quick. My agent called me and said, hey, the Falcons (have) this offer for you. And soon as I heard it … yeah, man. It’s great to be here.”
And Floyd is coming home with quite the professional resume. He has 71.5 career sacks (including five in the playoffs) in 137 games and has reached double-digit sacks twice (10.5 in 2020 and 10.5 in 2023) in his career.
“I’m not even looking at what (the Falcons) need,” Floyd said. “I just want to come in and add to whatever they’ve got. This is an opportunity for me to come in and add onto the team.”
Floyd is looking forward to playing for Morris again.
“He’s more than a coach,” Floyd said. “He’s like a brother, father, you know, he’s a great person, great guy to be around.”
The Falcons have not had a double-digit sack performance since Vic Beasley had 15.5 in 2016. Defensive end Adrian Clayborn had a career-high 9.5 sacks in 2017.
The Falcons have made improving their pass rush a top offseason priority. The Falcons ranked next to last in the NFL with 31 sacks in 2024.
Floyd is fine if the Falcons elect to get more pass-rush help in the draft.
“I mean, I’ll be happy,” Floyd said. “You know, to me, pass-rush is like having a basketball team. You want to have a rotation. You want to have players that can come in and do their thing, and other players that can come in and do their thing. It’s got to be a basketball team. So, the more the merrier. For sure.”
Floyd is aware that the Falcons have struggled to muster a pass rush for most of the past decade.
“I’m always excited to go out for a season and get sacks because it’s hard to do” Floyd said. “It’s hard to maintain consistency in this league. It’s just something I always look forward to every season, starting from scratch and climbing up.”
Floyd plans to take part of the Falcons’ offseason program and organized team activities. He has consulted with new defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich and will be eager to learn the new scheme.
“We didn’t dive too much into philosophy,” Floyd said. “We both know that I can do multiple things in the defense and I’ve played in multiple schemes. So, go out and do what I do best. Buy into the playbook and just buy into the coaching as well.”
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