Defensive end Lawrence Sidbury is ready to put his four-year stint with the Falcons in his rear view mirror.

The team and the player are both apparently ready to move on.

“No, it’s not a place you would stick around considering what took place the previous year in your fourth year,” said Alan Herman, Sidbury’s agent, when asked if returning to the Falcons was an option. “That would not be an option for us. That’s not something he would want to do.”

Sidbury posted four sacks in 2011 and appeared ready to bust into the rotation and provide the pass-rush starved Falcons with some help. After another strong preseason, he never got the opportunity to play last season

Six-time NFL executive of the year Bill Polian rated Sidbury as a Tier B free agent.

Herman talked with Dimitroff who explained that the coaching staff made the decision not to play Sidbury. He noted that most general managers will support their coaches.

Dimitroff drafted Sidbury in the fourth round (125^th overall) of the 2009 draft out of Richmond. Sidbury started 31 of 52 games at Richmond and recorded 145 tackles (71 solo), 20.5 sacks, 38 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and four passes defensed. His 20.5 sacks rank fourth in school history and his 11.5 quarterback takedowns in 2008 placed him third on the school's single-season record list.

He set the NCAA record for the most sacks in a playoff game against Montana in a 2008 FCS title game with four.

But his career with the Falcons never took off.

“You play out the contract and then you look for another place to call home,” Herman said.

Sidbury played in 16 games as a rookie. He played in six games in 2010 and in 16 games in 2011 and saw his most action from scrimmage. He only played in 10 games last season.

“It’s hard to prove yourself when you’re sitting on the bench,” Herman said. “It was clear that he had more than a decent preseason. He was active in his pass rushes. I thought he put pressure on the quarterback. He just wasn’t afforded that opportunity during the season. You can’t sack anybody from the bench.”

He showed signs of progress in 2011, but didn’t seem to fit into the plans during Mike Nolan’s first season as the coordinator.

“He had 4.5 half sacks and two more were disputed (in 2011),” Herman said. “We actually thought he had 6.5 sacks when we looked at the tape.  The bottom line is I thought he played well the year before and showed signs of being able to get to the quarterback and then not getting the opportunity this year was exceptionally frustrating.”

The Falcons like to use their backup ends on special teams. Sidbury gave it his best try on special teams, but was apparently beaten out by other players

“I can’t comment on special teams, that’s another coaching decision,” Herman said.

Sidbury’s plight was bizarre considering that Ray Edwards was released.

“He’s going to make his mark on getting to the quarterback,” Herman said.  “One of the things that Atlanta has been deficient in is putting pressure on the opposing team’s quarterback. I thought that he fulfilled a need that the club had, but it was frustrating with a capital ‘F’ not getting the opportunity to get on the field and show what he could do.”

To his credit, Sidbury didn’t fuss during the season about his role with the Falcons. He didn’t even want to talk about it on Wednesday at the Career Expo at the W Hotel in Buckhead. He referred all questions about free agency to Herman.

“It was a very difficult year for Lawrence,” Herman said.  “He complained and fussed to Jared Fox and myself. All we tried to do was be supportive of him. You know, what could we do? You talk to the general manager and you try to find out what’s going on, which we had numerous conversations. It’s one of those things that happens in football and sports, sometimes a guy doesn’t get an opportunity with one team. Hopefully, he can prove himself when he gets to the next team.”

Based on “winks and nods” at the NFL scouting combine for team executives, Herman is expecting his phone to be ringing on Saturday when teams can officially talk to agents about their clients.

“I think he’ll have a number of options,” Herman said. “I expect this weekend to be busy with a number of people who I think are going to call and want to talk about Lawrence. I would expect to see him sign somewhere pretty quickly.”

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