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Atlanta Falcons News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/12/19

October 12th, 2019 at 4:09pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

  • Promoted from practice squad: CB Nik Needham
  • Waived: S Doug Middleton

Minnesota Vikings

  • Promoted from practice squad: LB Cameron Smith
  • Waived: WR Davion Davis

New York Giants 

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Desmond Trufant Won't Play Sunday

October 12th, 2019 at 10:14am CST by Ben Levine
  • Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant has been ruled out for tomorrow’s game against the Cardinals. This is another tough break for a 1-4 Falcons team, as the defensive back has compiled five tackles, four passes defended, and a pair of picks this season. Cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson and punter Matt Wile have also been ruled out.

Falcons To Sign P Kasey Redfern

October 11th, 2019 at 10:37am CST by Zachary Links

The Falcons will sign punter/kickoff specialist Kasey Redfern, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Redfern will join the practice squad on Friday but will be added to the active roster for Sunday’s game against the Cardinals. 

[RELATED: Teams Identifying Falcons Trade Targets]

Redfern, it seems, will take the place of Matt Wile, who was signed after Matt Bosher landed on injured reserve. The Falcons, just a couple of days ago, also inked former University of Arkansas punter Sam Irwin-Hill to the practice squad, so there’s still some punter shuffling to be sorted out.

Wile struggled against the Texans and launched multiple kickoffs out of bounds. The Falcons lost 53-32, dropping them to 1-4 on the season.

Teams Identifying Falcons Trade Targets

October 9th, 2019 at 9:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

While standout contract-year Broncos (and Von Miller) have cropped up in trade rumors, teams are also monitoring select Falcons. Atlanta has slunk to 1-4 and has a few key veterans on expiring contracts.

Vic Beasley, De’Vondre Campbell and Austin Hooper are on some teams’ radars, Albert Breer of SI.com notes. The Falcons gave megadeals to a defensive lineman (Grady Jarrett), a linebacker (Deion Jones) and a pass catcher (Julio Jones) this summer but have the above starters in contract years. This year’s trade deadline is Oct. 29.

Arthur Blank said the Falcons are not considering staff changes, but with this veteran team struggling (and the Redskins firing Jay Gruden), Dan Quinn‘s seat may be the NFL’s hottest. The Falcons are 8-13 since advancing to the divisional round in 2017, and they’ve gone through several coordinators since the Super Bowl LI collapse.

Pro Football Focus graded Beasley as its worst full-time edge defender in 2018. The site again has the 2015 first-round pick toward the bottom this season. Beasley (1.5 sacks, five QB hits) has nearly $10MM remaining on his 2019 fifth-year option, making a trade a tougher sell. The 27-year-old pass rusher was a 2016 All-Pro, however, after racking up 15.5 sacks during Atlanta’s NFC title slate.

Campbell has started alongside Jones since the duo’s 2016 rookie season, rates as PFF’s No. 33 off-ball linebacker and is finishing out a fourth-round contract. Less than $2MM remains on Campbell’s 2019 salary. He has made a Falcons-best 48 tackles and forced two fumbles this season. Finishing up a third-round contract, Hooper has served as the Falcons’ top tight end for multiple seasons. His 363 yards in 2019 rank third among tight ends.

Projected to be more than $10MM over the 2020 cap, the Falcons will almost certainly have to let some of these UFAs-to-be walk if they are not traded. The Falcons could fetch 2021 compensatory picks for them, however, depending on their 2020 free agency activity.

Falcons Place Johnathan Cyprien On IR

October 8th, 2019 at 1:30pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Injuries continue to pile up for the Falcons’ defense. Just about a week after making a deal to acquire safety Johnathan Cyprien from the Eagles, the team is placing him on injured reserve, they announced in a release.

Details on his injury weren’t immediately released, but he’ll now have to miss at least the next eight weeks. The Falcons already lost starting safety Keanu Neal for the season, and traded for Cyprien in part to help replace him. Cyprien started the team’s Week 5 loss to the Texans, so it’s yet another big blow to a unit that has been one of the most banged up in the entire league the past couple of years. The Falcons are now 1-4, and at a crossroads. Owner Arthur Blank has said he’s not making a coaching change at this time, but Dan Quinn is clearly on the hot seat.

Cyprien originally entered the league as a second-round pick of the Jaguars back in 2013. After four years as a full-time starter in Jacksonville, he signed with the Titans in 2017. He missed six games with a hamstring injury that year, but started the other ten. Last year, he missed the entire season with a torn ACL, and it’s unclear if his latest injury is related to that.

The Falcons made a small flurry of corresponding roster moves. They signed cornerback D.J. White off of the Eagles’ practice squad to their active roster, signed offensive lineman John Wetzel, signed punter Sam Irwin-Hill to their practice squad and released tight end Carson Meier off of the practice squad. Wetzel has started 24 games for the Cardinals the past three years, and White is a 2016 sixth-round pick of the Chiefs who has bounced around a bit but never played much.

Falcons Not Considering Coaching Change

October 6th, 2019 at 7:48pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Dan Quinn and his staff are safe, for now. Falcons owner Arthur Blank said the team won’t be making any changes at this time following his team’s loss to the Texans, according to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. 

“No. … This staff has performed before. My hope is they can fix what needs to be fixed and start winning some games,” Blank said when asked if a coaching change is needed. Just earlier this morning, we received more confirmation that he is on the hot seat, and that report indicated a loss to the Texans could be the final straw. Even though there apparently are no firings imminent, that’s a pretty tepid statement of confidence from Blank. It’s long been speculated that Quinn won’t be brought back in 2020 unless the Falcons make the playoffs, and even then he might have to win a game or two.

With their loss to Houston, Atlanta fell to 1-4 on the year. There was a report back in May that Blank was growing “restless” with the organization’s power structure, and it’s understandable considering how they’ve regressed in recent seasons. Just a few years ago, the Falcons had the league MVP in Matt Ryan and were playing in the Super Bowl. The defense has since completely collapsed, and the offense has declined sharply since former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan left.

Atlanta missed the playoffs last year and as of right now it looks like Quinn will be looking for a new gig this offseason. He was forced to make major changes to his staff this past offseason, firing offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Marquand Manuel. Quinn rose to prominence as the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator for a couple of years during their ‘Legion of Boom’ glory days. It’s possible the Falcons won’t make a move during the season out of respect for the success he’s had, but Blank clearly is getting impatient and his days appear to be numbered.

NFC South Notes: Payton, Brees, Quinn

October 6th, 2019 at 12:15pm CST by Rory Parks

The extension that Saints head coach Sean Payton signed last month is a whopper. Payton was making $9MM per year under his previous contract, but Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that the offensive guru will now be pulling down around $13MM per season. That deal is one of the largest among coaches of North American professional sports, and it obviously will put an end to speculation concerning Payton’s long-term future in the Big Easy.

Now for more from the NFC South, starting with the other face of the Saints:

  • Drew Brees is throwing a football again, as shown on a video that the Saints star posted on Instagram. Brees managed to avoid a trip to the IR, and last week we learned that he is making progress in his recovery from thumb surgery. New Orleans is 2-0 with Brees’ backup, Teddy Bridgewater, at the helm, and the club will try to make that 3-0 against Tampa Bay this afternoon. Previous reports suggested that Brees could return for the club’s November 10 matchup with the Falcons.
  • Falcons head coach Dan Quinn is on the hot seat, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says an Atlanta loss to the Texans today could expedite Quinn’s ouster. After all, a loss would drop the team to 1-4, and with difficult games against the Rams and Seahawks following the Falcons’ matchup with the Cardinals next week, Atlanta could be looking at a 2-6 record after the first half of the season. Atlanta has three former head coaches on its staff — offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, tight ends coach Mike Mularkey, and receivers coach Raheem Morris — and owner Arthur Blank may be thinking about putting one of them in charge to finish out the season if Quinn can’t right the ship immediately.
  • Greg Auman of The Athletic observes that the Buccaneers could be in line for a third-round compensatory pick to offset the loss of Kwon Alexander in free agency and a fourth-rounder to offset the loss of Adam Humphries. As it currently stands, Tampa Bay signed enough outside free agents to negate those compensatory picks, but given that some of those free agents are underperforming (or barely playing), the Bucs could cut them loose prior to Week 9 to put themselves back on track for the compensatory selections. That means that Deone Bucannon, Breshad Perriman, and Bradley Pinion could all be in danger of being cut.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/5/19

October 5th, 2019 at 4:21pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Oakland Raiders

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Released from IR with injury settlement: DT Aziz Shittu

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Falcons Place P Matt Bosher On IR

October 5th, 2019 at 1:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Falcons have used two punters this season and will need to keep trotting out their second choice for a while. They placed ninth-year punter Matt Bosher on IR on Saturday. Matt Wile is back on Atlanta’s active roster to replace him.

Bosher played in three of the Falcons’ first four games, missing Week 3 because of a groin injury. He appeared on the team’s injury report again this week with the groin malady and will now be out at least eight weeks. The 31-year-old former sixth-round pick has been the Falcons’ punter since 2011.

Minnesota waived Wile, its punter throughout the 2018 season, after its preseason slate. After a one-game stint with the Falcons in 2016, Wile punted for the team in Week 3. The Falcons released him from their practice squad earlier this week but will turn to the fifth-year UDFA out of Michigan for the time being.

Bosher profiles as a potential IR-return candidate, joining guard Chris Lindstrom in that regard. Teams can only bring two players back from IR during a season.

More Details On Falcons/Eagles Trade

October 1st, 2019 at 9:34pm CST by Ben Levine
  • Yesterday, the Eagles acquired linebacker Duke Riley and a sixth-round choice from the Falcons in exchange for safety Johnathan Cyprien and a seventh-round pick. SiriusXM’s Adam Caplan tweets that the seventh rounder is actually the Buccaneers’ selection. The Eagles originally acquired the pick in the offseason trade that brought DeSean Jackson back to Philly.

    [SOURCE LINK]
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