Falcons Pivot Inside, Trading for Gervon Dexter Sr.

Atlanta sent a cornerback and a fifth-round pick to Chicago on Sunday for defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr., shifting the focus of their defensive rebuild from the edge to the interior. It's a different problem than the one they've been chasing all month.

The Dexter trade doesn't solve what I've been writing about — Samson Ebukam is still the only defensive end on this roster who has played meaningful snaps, and James Pearce Jr. is still eight games away. But it does address the interior, where the depth chart behind Da'Shawn Hand has been thin and untested. The reporting describes Dexter as a young, capable pass rusher at an affordable price, which is about the best Atlanta could hope for at this stage of the offseason.

The cost — a corner and a mid-round pick — is manageable. Atlanta gave up a player at a position where they have A.J. Terrell, Mike Hughes, and Darnay Holmes already logging snaps, so the depth there absorbs the loss better than most spots on this roster would. Whether Dexter immediately contributes or just adds a body with upside is the real question heading into Week 1.

It's a real move, not a patch. The pass-rush crisis at defensive end remains exactly where it was yesterday. But the Falcons at least leave the summer having addressed something on defense that wasn't a headline — which, given everything else that's gone wrong back there, counts for something.