FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons have re-signed outside linebacker DeAngelo Malone.
A native of Atlanta, Malone was drafted by the Falcons in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft after a five-year career at Western Kentucky, where he compiled 34 sacks. In his four NFL seasons, Malone has become a standout special teams player and produced several splash plays on defense when called upon. Despite possessing a Swiss-Army-Knife skillset, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich sought a more refined approach to developing Malone last season.
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"For DeAngelo Malone, he's been a guy that's been used as an edge rusher, as an internal blitzer, as an off-the-ball stack linebacker," Ulbrich said. "When you're asked to do a lot of those things, it's really hard to master something. So I made a concerted effort this offseason to say, 'You're going to become a stacked linebacker first, and then we'll start to toy around with the other stuff.' He's done an amazing job of that. He's gotten so much better."
Malone played in each of the Falcons' first nine games of the 2025 season before an ankle injury against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 10 landed him on injured reserve and ended his season. Before his injury, Malone ranked fourth on the team with six special teams tackles. His most notable play of the season, though, came in Week 6 when Malone intercepted Josh Allen with under a minute remaining in the fourth quarter, cementing Atlanta's 24-14 victory.
Against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15 of the 2024 season, Malone also made an impact for Atlanta's defense. He recorded two sacks and three quarterback hits on just 14 defensive snaps, putting his explosiveness as a pass rusher on display. Malone has played 58 games in his four seasons. He has 59 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks, a pass defense and an interception in that time.
