Here are today’s minor transactions:
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
New York Jets
Oakland Raiders
San Francisco 49ers
For the second straight season, Falcons safety Keanu Neal‘s season has ended with a devastating injury. Neal is believed to have torn his Achilles during the team’s loss to the Colts earlier today, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
The Falcons placed Neal on IR and promoted safety Jamal Carter from their practice squad, per Howard Balzer of BalzerFootball.com (on Twitter). 
Obviously, his year is over. Rapoport writes that Neal will have surgery this week, and “should be good to go well before the 2020 season.” In Week 1 of last year Neal tore his ACL, and this latest injury was to the same leg. Atlanta picked up his fifth-year option earlier this offseason, keeping him under team control through 2020. The good news for him is that option year was fully guaranteed for injury at around $6.7MM and assuming he can’t pass a physical on the first day of the new league year, he’ll get that cash no matter what.
Neal has been a good player when healthy, but he’ll now have missed 28 games over the past two seasons. It’s a tough blow for a Falcons defense that already hasn’t looked great this year and was one of the most injured units in the league last year. Atlanta drafted the Florida product in the first-round back in 2016.
He started all 16 games in 2017, racking up 113 tackles, six passes defended, and an interception. The Falcons’ secondary got diced up by Jacoby Brissett on Sunday, and now they’ll be without one of its key cogs moving forward. They currently sit at 1-2 and will host the Titans in Week 4.
A UDFA out of Miami, Carter spent two years with the Broncos. He missed all of the 2018 season and was moved to linebacker in training camp. The Broncos waived him prior to the regular season’s outset, however, leading him to the Falcons’ taxi squad. Carter is back at safety and will likely fill in as a backup for the Falcons, who also lost J.J. Wilcox to a season-ending injury earlier this year.
Here are Saturday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Philadelphia Eagles
The Falcons will have a new punter in Week 3. Shortly after signing Matt Wile to their practice squad, the Falcons will elevate him to their active roster.
With Matt Bosher declared out with a groin injury, Atlanta’s roster will carry two punters for the time being. Wile is set to handle the team’s punting and kickoff duties in Indianapolis and may be in line to stay in those roles for as long as Bosher is sidelined.
This will mark Wile’s second game as a Falcon, however. His first NFL game was a November 2016 assignment with the Falcons, when he also replaced Bosher. The latter has been Atlanta’s full-time punter since the 2011 season.
The Vikings waived Wile days before the regular season, opting to sign veteran Britton Colquitt. Wile was Minnesota’s punter for 16 games last season; he finished 14th in 2018 yards per punt (45.2).
Here are Tuesday’s practice squad decisions:
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Cincinnati Bengals
Dallas Cowboys
Denver Broncos
Los Angeles Chargers
New Orleans Saints
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Washington Redskins
Here are Tuesday’s updates from the workout circuit, all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter unless otherwise noted.
Atlanta Falcons
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Indianapolis Colts
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
Oakland Raiders
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Washington Redskins
Ra’Shede Hageman‘s second stint with the Falcons has come to an end. The team announced today that they have waive/injured the defensive tackle from the reserve/suspended list.
The 2014 second-round pick out of Minnesota was productive during his first two years in the NFL, including a 2015 campaign where he finished with 27 tackles and one sack in 16 games (12 starts). However, he was demoted to a backup role during the Falcons 2016 season.
Prior to the 2017 season, Hageman was placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List following domestic violence charges. He was subsequently released by the Falcons, and he ended up sitting out the 2017 and 2018 campaign. Atlanta gave him a second chance this offseason, signing him to a one-year deal. However, the defensive lineman was quickly slapped with a two-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
The Falcons will move forward with their trio of defensive tackles: Grady Jarrett, Tyeler Davison, and Deadrin Senat.
Here are Monday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Pittsburgh Steelers
Chris Lindstrom‘s rookie season is not definitively over, but the Falcons guard will not be back until at least November. The team is expected to place the first-round pick on IR, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com notes (on Twitter).
The Boston College product broke a small bone in his foot on Sunday, and Pelissero adds this injury can be categorized as similar to the one Deion Jones suffered in September of 2018. Jones went to IR and returned for five games.
Atlanta has dealt with issues involving both of its first-round lineman choices. Kaleb McGary missed much of training camp because of a heart condition but has since returned.
The Falcons have some veteran insurance behind Lindstrom, adding both James Carpenter and Jamon Brown this offseason. Carpenter operated as Atlanta’s Week 1 left guard starter; Brown was inactive in Week 1. The Falcons also have third-year man Wes Schweitzer as well. A 2017 sixth-round pick, Schweitzer started 28 games for the past two Falcons editions.
Although Schweitzer replaced Lindstrom on Sunday, Dan Quinn confirmed the Falcons’ Week 2 guard configuration will be Carpenter-Brown. The latter was a regular Rams starter before being waived in 2018; Brown spent the final eight games of 2018 as a Giants starter.