FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons acquired defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. from the Chicago Bears in exchange for cornerback Clark Phillips III and a fifth-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, pending a physical evaluation.
Dexter was selected by the Bears in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft with the 53rd-overall pick. The former Florida standout has started 32 games during the last two seasons for Chicago and has appeared in 49 games total. At 6-foot-6 and 326 pounds, Dexter is an accomplished interior pass rusher with 13.5 sacks on his resume, including 11 in the past two seasons. He has 115 tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, 4 fumble recoveries and 3 pass deflections in his career.
"He's a big guy and he does a great job taking care of his body and being available," Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson told the media about Dexter last Tuesday. "I don't think he's missed a game in his career yet. He's done a great job. And we've challenged him to do some technique things a little bit different this year. And when he does it, it's a beautiful thing because he is strong, he is a big man, and he's willing to run guys down sideline to sideline. I think that's what's awesome."
Atlanta's defensive line has some new faces on it entering the 2026 season, and Dexter is the newest among them. He joins Maason Smith and Da'Shawn Hand as interior additions who add size and strength to the Falcons' front. Following a season-ending injury to Jalon Walker in training camp and the beginning of James Pearce Jr.'s eight-game suspension, the Falcons have three returning pieces from last year's front on their 53-man roster: Brandon Dorlus, LaCale London and Zach Harrison. Other newcomers to the group include defensive ends Samson Ebukam, Za'Darius Smith and Cameron Thomas.
Atlanta set a franchise record with 57 sacks last season, a big accomplishment for first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich and his staff. In their second season, Ulbrich's group hopes to shore up a run defense that allowed 126.2 rushing yards per game last season, which ranked 24th in the league. After a well-attended offseason program and a full training camp, defensive line coach Nate Ollie feels like his group is in a good spot entering the season.
"I think we are," Ollie said. "We're doing a good job up front talking about it; talking about our edge setting; talking about being more stout on double teams; talking about being more precise in our run fits. Everything we're talking about, man, is helping us out better.
"You're trying to blend two systems in together. Getting off [the line] and everybody getting accustomed to it. I thought towards the end of the year, we got a little bit better—not where we want to be—but we got a little bit better in the run game towards the end of year, once everybody started figuring it all out."
The Falcons drafted Phillips in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He appeared in 28 games for the Falcons during the last three seasons and made seven starts. Phillips had 63 tackles, 10 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and an interception for Atlanta.
During his time with the Falcons, Phillips was well-liked by teammates and developed on the field. He played in one game for the Falcons in 2025 before a triceps injury landed him on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.
"The biggest thing with Clark has been his mindset," Falcons secondary coach Justin Hood said. "When I first got here, he came in and the biggest questions were, 'How do I make plays?' So his mindset was: I need to go make plays. I could have 20 bad plays, but I made an interception, right? And I talked to Clark about holistically where we can take his game and how he can grow. And he's done the work, and to this point, coming into training camp, he's put himself in position to not only make the plays and have big plays on the ball, but also be right on the other 19 plays where the ball doesn't necessarily come his way."
An inside look at the players on the inital 53-man roster for the 2026 Atlanta Falcons.
