DE Dwight Freeney signs one-year deal with Falcons

— -- The Atlanta Falcons have signed veteran defensive end Dwight Freeney to a one-year contract, the team announced Tuesday.

Freeney, who signed with Arizona before Week 6 in 2015, had eight sacks in 11 games. He was the lone bright spot for the Cardinals' pass rush last season, an area they're still trying to address.

Freeney, who turned 36 in February, became a free agent in March and first visited Atlanta in May.

The Falcons finished with a league-low 19 sacks last season. Their 73 sacks the past three seasons is 20 fewer than any other team, according to ESPN Stats & Info, and Freeney's signing is designed, in part, to help address those woes.

Freeney came to Atlanta in late May to visit with the coaching staff. Coach Dan Quinn made it clear that there was no need for the 36-year-old Freeney to go through a workout because Quinn was well aware of Freeney's body of work, with 119.5 career sacks.

"We had a great visit with Dwight in here today," Quinn said. "It was a chance for him to get to know us and us to know him. So it was more, not a meet-and-greet, but we could explain what our program is all about and where we're headed. So it was awesome to have him here with us but nothing past that at this point."

ESPN Falcons reporter Vaughn McClure contributed to this report.