{"id":129865,"date":"2022-02-16T18:20:45","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T23:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=129865"},"modified":"2022-02-16T18:20:45","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T23:20:45","slug":"atlanta-falcons-release-dante-fowler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/02\/16\/atlanta-falcons-release-dante-fowler\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlanta Falcons Release Dante Fowler"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Atlanta Falcons have released outside linebacker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/F\/FowlDa00.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dante Fowler, Jr.<\/a> after two years with the team. The outside linebacker accumulated a total of 59 tackles, four forced fumbles, and seven-and-a-half sacks in his short time in Atlanta.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Falcons announced they have released Dante Fowler.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AdamSchefter\/status\/1494049613531299848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 16, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Dante Fowler Released by Atlanta Falcons<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Before Fowler landed in Atlanta, he had a roller-coaster of a career. He was drafted third overall by the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/jaguars\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jacksonville Jaguars<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> in the 2015 NFL draft. Unfortunately, before the season started the University of Florida product suffered a season-ending ACL injury. In his first action in 2016, he ended the season with four sacks and five pass deflections, showing glimpses of why he was a top-five pick.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Then there was the magical 2017 season for Jacksonville. The defense was so good, it earned a nickname: &#8220;Sacksonville&#8221;. An ode to the defensive line\u2019s uncanny ability to get to the passer. Calais Campbell, Dante Fowler, and Yannick Ngauokue were all beneficiaries of each other&#8217;s strengths creating nightmares for offensive lines throughout the league. Fowler ended with eight sacks, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries. He even scored a defensive touchdown.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Then, just as fast as the defense rose, it fell. With departures including Jalen Ramsey, Campbell, and Ngauokue, \u201cSacksonville\u201d proved to be just a one-hit-wonder. Fowler grew unhappy and was then\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2018\/11\/02\/jacksonville-jaguars-are-winners-in-dante-fowler-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">traded<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/rams\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Los Angeles Rams<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in the middle of the 2018 season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Fowler\u2019s 2019 season alongside Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd showed more flashes of that ability that made him a top-five pick in 2015. He ended the season with 11.5 sacks and six pass deflections. Fowler\u2019s production made him a prime target for the Atlanta Falcons in 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With the Falcons having released Dante Fowler, the 2022 offseason has officially begun in Atlanta. While Fowler\u2019s release won\u2019t affect the 2022 cap, it is a sign that Fontenot has started building the new team. Atlanta fans may begin to look forward as this is the first of many important decisions this new regime has to make.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We have released Dante Fowler. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5NjYFoOTDP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/5NjYFoOTDP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AtlantaFalcons\/status\/1494048841229811722?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 16, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Very underwhelming 2 years with us (definitely an understatement)<\/p>\n<p>No doubt he will perform where he goes next.<\/p>\n<p>Good luck to him. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Zbb55XfeQC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/Zbb55XfeQC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; ATL Falcons UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 (@ATLFalconsUK) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ATLFalconsUK\/status\/1494059405083566081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 16, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"St8cpK_2Q25m_jweM7VT4Q\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1344625635\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'St8cpK_2Q25m_jweM7VT4Q',sig:'iX-5OI_11ol9J4HVeDRoC9qRvaDvypRhD18yqy2QO-0=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1344625635',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Atlanta Falcons have Released Dante Fowler Jr. after two years with the team. He had 59 tackles and 7.5 sacks in that time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3893,"featured_media":129874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,27],"tags":[8848,7402,879,8847],"class_list":["post-129865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-falcons","tag-2022-nfl-free-agency","tag-arthur-smith","tag-dante-fowler","tag-terry-fontenot"],"modified_by":"Will Noltie, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3893"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}