Former Atlanta Falcons first-round pick signs with AFC East team

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Former Atlanta Falcons defensive end Takk McKinley has a new home.

The New York Jets announced Thursday that they signed McKinley after a tryout Wednesday during mandatory minicamp.

McKinley, 28, was a first-round draft pick of the Falcons in 2017 and spent the first four seasons of his professional career in Atlanta, accumulating 17.5 sacks, 22 tackles for loss and 45 quarterback hits in 49 matches with 25 starts.

A former star player at UCLA, McKinley got off to a fast start with the Falcons, totaling 13 sacks in his first two campaigns. He took a step back in his third season, recording 3.5 sacks in 14 games, starting all but one.

The Falcons did not pick up McKinley’s fifth-year option, making 2020 a contract year. He started the year strong, starting the first four games while recording a sack and seven quarterback hits, but he suffered a groin injury that rendered him inactive for the next month.

McKinley, a native of Richmond, Calif., requested to be traded and subsequently sent a series of tweets expressing his disgust that Atlanta was not meeting his request. On November 9, the Falcons waived McKinley, officially ending his drama-filled tenure.

Two weeks later, the 6-2, 260-pound McKinley joined the Las Vegas Raiders but never played due to injury. He signed with the Cleveland Browns in the spring of 2021 and played in 11 games with two starts before tearing his Achilles tendon on December 21. He finished the year with 18 tackles and 2.5 sacks.

On September 16, 2022, McKinley joined the practice squad of the Tennessee Titans, but was signed by the Los Angeles Rams less than a week later. He played in four games for the Rams, making one tackle, and was released on October 18.

The Dallas Cowboys signed McKinley to practice a month after he left Los Angeles, and he spent the remainder of the 2022 season on the practice squad. He re-signed with the Cowboys in the spring of 2023, but was released in June and did not play in the NFL last season.

McKinley’s winding journey, which began professionally in Atlanta, now includes a new stage – one in which he hopes to achieve better results than his previous homes.