Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon believes that his former teammate Dwight Freeney, would be a good fit for the Falcons.
Weatherspoon played with Freeney last season with the Arizona Cardinals, where Freeney recorded 8.5 sacks in 11 games. Freeney, who’s an unrestricted free agent, is set to meet with the Falcons on Wednesday.
“He’s great,” Weatherspoon said. “He’s about the team. He’s helpful. One of my rookies in Arizona was Marcus Golden, and he came and snatched him up and put him right under his wings and taught him some things. He just worked will all of them young guys.”
Weatherspoon and Freeney, who has 119.5 career sacks over his Hall of Fame career, helped the Cardinals reach the NFC Championship game last season.
“He even helped me with some things off the ball,” Weatherspoon said.
The Falcons ranked last in the NFL in sacks last season, with 19. Freeney likely will fill a designated pass-rusher role with the Falcons if signed.
“He has some tips and things like that,” Weatherspoon said. “He can help us with our rush moves. He’ll just make our team better. That’s what Dwight is going to do. We would love to have him here because he’s a team guy.”
Freeney is 36, but hasn’t displayed signs of major slippage.
“He still has it,” Weatherspoon said. “He’s running. He’s passionate about it. The guy is first-class. He’s one of the veterans that I look up to that I’ve had a chance to meet over the years. He’s been a helpful guy.”
Freeney will meet with the Falcons, but won’t work out for the team.
“Just our connection to see if we’d be a good fit for one another,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “I certainly have coached against him and watched tons of tape on him through the years. I have a huge amount of respect for him.
“It’s a chance for us to sit down and visit. That would be the most important thing for him and for us.”
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