Atlanta's Secondary Isn't a Depth Problem Anymore. It's a Structural One.
The Dexter extension was the right call. Let's start there, because what follows is not an argument against locking up a young defensive tackle—it's an argument that doing so does not change the number that actually defines Atlanta's defensive ceiling right now. That number is one. One cornerback with meaningful snaps. One safety who functions at a starter's level. One defensive end with any real production on the depth chart. The Falcons have spent heavily and moved quickly this offseason, and they still cannot field a complete defensive rotation.
Look at the cornerback position first. Mike Hughes is the starter, and behind him the depth chart essentially dissolves. C.J. Henderson has logged some snaps at the third spot, Darnay Holmes even fewer. There is no viable second cornerback by any reasonable measure of contribution. That was the story when A.J. Terrell went to IR—the piece I wrote on September 24 laid it out plainly—and nothing structural has changed since. The Dexter signing addresses the interior. It does nothing for the corners.
The safety picture is almost more alarming because it looks functional until you press on it. Jessie Bates is a legitimate starter, one of the better safeties in the league over his career, and his 98 tackles and three interceptions across 17 games last season confirm he was doing real work. But the drop to the backup is severe. Mike Ford is the second safety on the depth chart, and his production share is a fraction of what Bates provides. If Bates misses a game—or a half—Atlanta is asking a player who barely registers to cover for one of their most important defensive contributors. That is not a rotation. That is a starter and a prayer.
The defensive line situation is more nuanced but no less concerning. Samson Ebukam is the only defensive end who has actually logged meaningful snaps. Zach Harrison and Brandon Dorlus are on the depth chart in the technical sense; they have not produced in any measurable way. At defensive tackle, LaCale London carries the entire position, with Anterio Thompson and Maason Smith behind him at essentially zero contribution. Dexter, listed in the DL group, arrives into a rotation that barely exists. His extension makes him the future of this front. The present is still thin.
What ties all of this together is a pattern the Falcons have been running for three years now. They finished 2025 at 8-9, outscored by nearly three points a game across the season, and won a division title that their underlying numbers suggested they had not quite earned. The four-game winning streak to close the year was real, but the full-season point differential told a different story—a team surviving on close-game margins rather than dominating anyone. My read is that the Dexter extension is the front office trying to build something more durable, a genuine interior anchor rather than a patchwork fix. That instinct is correct. But an anchor only holds if the rest of the ship is seaworthy. Right now, Atlanta's secondary depth is a hole in the hull, and no amount of money committed to the defensive tackle position patches it.