The New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons do not get along. In actuality, they are each other's biggest rivals in the entire NFL.

That being said, Atlanta has been a bit of a funnel for Saints personnel over the last couple of years. More so on the coaching and front office side, the Falcons have pulled some of the Saints' smart minds away from New Orleans in Terry Fontenot and Ryan Nielsen.

Fontenot was a front office member for the Saints, and Nielsen was a defensive assistant for years in New Orleans. 

There's clearly a connection between the franchises that stems a bit deeper than the rivalry, and that could affect the teams' rosters soon.

The Atlanta Falcons have a clear top need on the defensive side of their roster. That's pass rusher. they selected two young edge rushers in last year's draft in Arnold Ebiketie and DeAngelo Malone, but relying solely on those two non-first round selections isn't smart.

The front office knows that, so they are expected to be aggressive on the pass rush market during this off-season.

The Falcons have over $50 million in cap space, and former Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport will be on the market.

Davenport had an up-and-down tenure in New Orleans. The Saints notably traded two first-round picks in order to move up for Davenport in the 2018 NFL Draft.

He never lived nearly up to that hype for the Saints. Davenport showed impressive flashes, but inconsistency and injuries seemed to always bog down his season.

He just never fully put it together with the Saints, and the Falcons may want to see if they can turn his career around.

Ryan Nielsen was his defensive line coach in New Orleans, and he's now the Falcons DC. There's a connection there.

Accordingly, the Saints need to move on from Davenport. They are already lacking cap space and signing a player like Davenport in free agency may only hinder them more down the road. It's just not worth it.

Instead, the Falcons may grab Davenport and save the Saints from shooting themselves in the foot by giving him a new, expensive deal. 

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