Falcons Waive Takk McKinley After Twitter Tantrum

Sometimes, it pays just to keep quiet.

In the case of former Atlanta Falcons first-round pick Takk McKinley, it would have paid quite a bit.

Instead, the defensive end took to Twitter last week to moan and groan that the Falcons failed to trade him by the NFL deadline. So the Falcons did him one better Monday. They just waived him.

McKinley insisted the offers were there.

"These @AtlantaFalcons turned down a 2nd round draft pick when I requested to get traded last year," he wrote. "The same @AtlantaFalcons turned down a 5th and 6th round draft pick from multiple teams when I requested to get traded this year. I only have 17.5 career sacks."

McKinley is right about that much. He has largely been a disappointment. He apparently blames the Falcons, but a team usually doesn't refuse to play a guy if he's producing.

That hasn't been the case. The Falcons declined McKinley's fifth-year option of $10.3 million. Now, they are declining McKinley altogether.

But hey, no great loss. McKinley played just 81 snaps, making little impact with just one sack in four games.

Now he's left to try to sell his services to another team. Maybe this time, McKinley can do it on the field -- as opposed to, ya know, social media.

Written by
Sam Amico spent 15 years covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports and NBA.com, along with a few other spots, and currently runs his own basketball website on the side, FortyEightMinutes.com.