FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons finalized contracts with three veteran defensive players on Monday to boost their depth on that side of the ball, signing defensive ends Samson Ebukam and Azeez Ojulari and defensive lineman Da'Shawn Hand.
Ebukam and Ojulari should give the Falcons some valuable depth at the edge rusher spots in light of the uncertainty surrounding James Pearce Jr., who was arrested last month after fleeing police and crashing his car following an alleged domestic dispute with WNBA player Rickea Jackson. Pearce, who was drafted in the first round last year by the Falcons, is facing multiple felony charges including two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Ebukam, who is entering his 10th season in the NFL, has joined his fourth team after being drafted in the fourth round in 2017 by the Los Angeles Rams. He spent the last three years with the Indianapolis Colts, missing the 2024 season with a torn Achilles tendon. Ebukam has 35 sacks in 127 career games.
Ojulari played last year for the Philadelphia Eagles after being drafted in the second round in 2021 by the New York Giants. The Georgia native was limited to three games last season, largely because of a hamstring injury.
Hand, who was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fourth round in 2018, made a career-high 13 starts last year for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.