FLOWERY BRANCH — Olamide Zaccheaus is a bracelet aficionado. On his left wrist, he wears beads. On his right, he wears reminders — of his mentality and of coaching tips. “Lion’s Demeanor,” one reads. “Play low,” says another.
Zaccheaus, back with the Falcons and entering his eighth season as an NFL receiver, is different from his last stint. He’s more seasoned. He’s battle-tested. He’s experienced this playoffs. And this year, in this locker room, his value might just be as the right-wrist reminders and the string that holds the left-wrist beads together.
“He’s a true pro,” Falcons receivers coach Robert Prince told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution during OTAs, “and he helps the whole room get better.”
Zaccheaus spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Falcons, ascending from an undrafted free agent in 2019 to the team’s second-leading receiver in 2022. All told, he finished the stint with 55 appearances and 23 starts, which he turned into 94 receptions for 1,328 yards and eight touchdowns.
He also finished with zero playoff appearances, let alone winning seasons.
Then, Zaccheaus found another side of the NFL — the successful side. He tasted the playoffs with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023 but didn’t make it past the wild-card round. He signed with the Washington Commanders in 2024 and reached the NFC title game. He joined the Chicago Bears in 2025 and made the divisional round.
Zaccheaus helped the Commanders snap a four-year playoff drought. He helped the Bears end a five-year spell.
Now, the Plainfield, New Jersey, native hopes to play a part in helping the Falcons make the postseason for the first time since 2017 — and while he figures to be the team’s No. 3 or 4 receiver, he feels his playoff experience adds a significant quality: He knows how winning teams look and feel each day.
“There’s certain core values that the whole team has to uphold,” Zaccheaus said during OTAs. “The best teams are player-led. So, that coming from the players is more important than anything. I think just a lot of policing and stuff like that should be a player to player rather than coach to player.”
The message applies both in the locker room and on the field. It’s perhaps elementary, but on a 53-man active roster, knowing everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to — be it workouts and film study or play calls and route depth — is a key component to winning teams.
OTAs and minicamp don’t provide much of an indication. Game situations and moments of adversity ultimately test the mettle of a team’s core values. But the Falcons, Zaccheaus said, have a lot of older veterans who’ve been around the league and can step up to lead when necessary — there are 12 players on the roster entering Year 8 and above.
Zaccheaus is one of them.
“I think what you love to hear is OZ having a winner’s mentality,” Falcons passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand said during OTAs. “It’s like you’ve been a part of a winning culture to some degree. Now, he can maybe help in that regard of how you practice, how you play and all those different types of things.”
Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski has often preached the significance of fostering a player-led culture. Zaccheaus believes his experiences being part of one is central to the reason the Falcons inked him to a two-year, $4.5 million contract this spring.
“I always pride myself on being a locker room guy,” Zaccheaus said. “That’s the main reason why it’s fun to come to work, just come to work with people that you actually like and enjoy. But yeah, I would say that’s a part of my role here.”
Another element of his role, Zaccheaus said, is helping Zachariah Branch and the rest of the rookie receivers. Branch, a third-round pick, often spent time after practice catching passes from the JUGS machine with Zaccheaus and other wideouts.
Zaccheaus is also the oldest — and most experienced — receiver on the team, which makes him a natural resource for the question-filled Branch.
But the Falcons sought out Zaccheaus’ services for more than his mentorship and locker room influence. They were big fans of the season he put together last year with the Bears, one in which he started five of 16 appearances and caught 39 passes for 313 yards and two touchdowns.
“We loved his tape last year coming out of Chicago,” Engstrand said. “He did a great job there, caught a lot of passes, was able to work the middle of the field. It was just one of those things like, ‘You know what? That guy can fill a role for what we see in our offense.’
“We had a vision for that player, and it was awesome we were able to get him here.”
Reliability has grown more paramount to Zaccheaus’ skill set than explosiveness.
The first reception of Zaccheaus’ NFL career was a 93-yard touchdown in 2019, and while that may have set an unrepeatable bar, he averaged between 13 and 14 yards per catch in each of the three seasons that followed.
Last season in Chicago, he averaged only eight yards per catch — the lowest of his career and second consecutive season where his average declined with representable volume.
The Falcons don’t need Zaccheaus, who turns 29 years old before training camp, to be an explosive weapon. They merely want him to be a steady, dependable contributor on offense and potentially special teams, too.
“Intelligence, the ability to make plays, particularly in the middle of the field,” Stefanski said this spring about what he likes in Zaccheaus’ skill set. “He will do anything for the football team, as he’s done. He’s always been a playmaker in this league.
“You’ve seen him constantly be able to work in offenses, special teams, you name it. But just a pro’s pro.”
Zaccheaus worked from the slot during OTAs and minicamp, but Prince said he’s smart enough to play anywhere. And with his experience and intelligence, he’s become a crafty route runner capable of creating separation.
“He does a great job of not just running the line,” Prince said. “So, we might have a line that looks like you go five yards and out, and he understands how to make that line come to life and find a little space.”
Much has changed since Zaccheaus’ last stint with the Falcons. There’s a new front office, new coaching staff and, aside from six players, an all-new locker room. He’s even wearing a new number — he swapped No. 17 for No. 14.
Still, the reunion brings him feelings of nostalgia.
And after all, some things remain the same. The Falcons haven’t finished with a winning record since 2017, their last playoff berth. Zaccheaus, suddenly a playoff veteran, was brought to Flowery Branch to be a piece of the puzzle that changes that stat, too.
Except maybe he isn’t a puzzle piece — he’s a bead on a bracelet, one the Falcons hope fits well enough to make Zaccheaus’ second stop more successful than the first.
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