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Atlanta Falcons News & Rumors

Falcons To Sign Matt Bryant

August 31st, 2019 at 11:03am CST by Zachary Links

The Falcons are re-signing veteran kicker Matt Bryant, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). It’s a one-year, $3MM deal, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter). Bryant retired after parting ways with Atlanta in the offseason, but he’ll return at the age of 44 to handle Atlanta’s kicking duties.

Bryant will take over the job that was supposed to belong to either Giorgio Tavecchio or Blair Walsh this year. Both kickers struggled in practice – with Walsh having serious hiccups in full view of the press earlier this week – so Bryant will go from the couch to the field to solidify their special teams.

Bryant, 44, nailed 95.2% of his field goal tries for the Falcons last year, but the Falcons elected to save money by declining his 2019 option. Now, Bryant will resume work in Atlanta for his eleventh-straight season with the club.

Extra Points: CBA, Clowney, Julio, Butt

August 30th, 2019 at 9:06pm CST by Sam Robinson

As expected based on the past several weeks of talks, there will be no new collective bargaining agreement before Week 1. The parties’ latest round of discussions ended this week without much movement, and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com notes no more meetings are currently scheduled. The owners continue to push for an 18-game season, while the players want a greater revenue share than their 47% figure without adding any additional regular-season contests. But the sides have made progress on issues like increased league-minimum salaries and health and safety components, Pelissero adds. With NFL-NFLPA meetings more difficult to arrange during the season, due to players’ focuses shifting to game preparation, there is now an increased possibility we will get to 2020 without a new CBA in place. That would mean final-year-of-a-CBA rules going into place. This CBA expires after the 2020 season.

Here is the latest from around the league, as rosters continue to take shape leading up to Saturday’s cutdown:

  • It continues to look less and less likely Jadeveon Clowney will wear a Texans uniform again. A bevy of teams are interested, even if a Clowney-to-Miami proposition has hit snags on multiple fronts. Bill O’Brien, who was reported to be against a Clowney extension before this year’s franchise tag deadline, said he will reconvene with Clowney if he signs his tag tender, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Clowney has now threatened to miss regular-season time.
  • We are now less than nine days away from the Falcons‘ opener, and it could put Julio Jones to a decision. The All-Pro wideout did not skip training camp but he would soon be set to play in games on the league’s 13th-highest-AAV receiver deal. Thomas Dimitroff said (via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com) the team believes this process is “very close” to being completed. Jones’ current deal runs through the 2020 season.
  • Jake Butt has endured another setback. The Broncos tight end who has undergone three reconstructive ACL surgeries will have another knee procedure soon, James Palmer of NFL.com tweets. This will be a minor surgery on Butt’s left knee, that was operated on last year. At this point, it should be considered a safe bet Butt will land on the Broncos’ IR list. The Broncos have the former All-American under contract through 2020 and could give him another medical redshirt year of sorts by placing him on IR before finalizing their roster. Butt missed most of Denver’s preseason work.
  • The Texans may have their backup quarterback back soon. A.J. McCarron has resumed throwing, per Wilson, pointing to the longtime Bengals QB2 being available in Week 1. McCarron has been dealing with a thumb injury for most of August. Houston signed McCarron to a one-year, $3MM deal to be Deshaun Watson‘s backup.

Colts, Texans, Browns Lead NFL In Cap Space

August 29th, 2019 at 8:50pm CST by Ben Levine

On Tuesday morning, the NFL released a report of every team’s cap space. The total number accounts for the top-51 cap numbers on every team’s roster. Therefore, these numbers will naturally change before next week as teams set their 53-man rosters (although the 52nd- and 53rd-ranked cap numbers (and beyond) for each team will hardly change anything).

It’s also worth noting that there have been a handful of extensions, trades, signings, and cuts since this report was released. However, there weren’t any significant moves that would drastically alter these rankings.

Why are these numbers important at this time of year? Well, rosters will be trimmed on Saturday, meaning an influx of players will hit the open market. While we can’t imagine any roster casualties earning a lucrative contract from a new team, these numbers can help illustrate the monetary advantage one organization has over another. These numbers are also useful in regards to any potential trades or extensions.

With help from TheMMQB.com’s Albert Breer on Twitter, we’ve listed the league’s cap space totals (as of Tuesday morning) below:

  1. Indianapolis Colts: $56.6MM
  2. Houston Texans: $37.0MM
  3. Cleveland Browns: $34.6MM
  4. Dallas Cowboys: $26.1MM
  5. Tennessee Titans: $26.0MM
  6. San Francisco 49ers: $25.5MM
  7. Buffalo Bills: $23.3MM
  8. Miami Dolphins: $22.1MM
  9. Chicago Bears: $22.1MM
  10. Washington Redskins: $21.7MM
  11. Detroit Lions: $21.5MM
  12. Kansas City Chiefs: $21MM
  13. Cincinnati Bengals: $19.7MM
  14. Seattle Seahawks: $19.5MM
  15. Philadelphia Eagles: $18.6MM
  16. Jacksonville Jaguars: $18.2MM
  17. Oakland Raiders: $17.3MM
  18. Los Angeles Chargers: $16.4MM
  19. Green Bay Packers: $15.2MM
  20. New York Jets: $14.9MM
  21. New England Patriots: $14.1MM
  22. Baltimore Ravens: $13.4MM
  23. New Orleans Saints $7.5MM
  24. Carolina Panthers $5.9MM
  25. Los Angeles Rams $5.6MM
  26. New York Giants $5.5MM
  27. Pittsburgh Steelers $4.9MM
  28. Minnesota Vikings $4.7MM
  29. Arizona Cardinals $4.7MM
  30. Denver Broncos $4.4MM
  31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers $4.3MM
  32. Atlanta Falcons $3.4MM

Matt Bryant To Try Out For Falcons

August 29th, 2019 at 12:39pm CST by Zachary Links

Maybe age really is just a number. Kicker Matt Bryant will try out for the Falcons on Friday, according to Bryant’s former teammate and current CNN reporter Coy Wire (on Twitter). 

Bryant, 44, nailed 95.2% of his field goal tries for the Falcons last year, but the Falcons elected to save money by declining his 2019 option. It brought an end to Bryant’s 10-year run as the Falcons’ top leg, though they could rekindle their relationship if Bryant auditions well on Friday.

Blair Walsh, whose career has been defined by ill-timed misses, was recently brought on board to challenge Giorgio Tavecchio (Bryant’s initial replacement). This week, in full view of the press, Walsh went just 5-of-9 on his field goal attempts in practice.

Biggest Roster Weakness: NFC South

August 28th, 2019 at 9:14pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The 2019 regular season is right around the corner, but every NFL team still has at least one position on its roster that could use improvement. And there’s still plenty of time to address those areas of need! Free agents are readily available on the open market, while preseason trades provide another avenue of player procurement. 19 NFL trades were executed between August 1st and September 1st of 2018, and that number could increase this year.

Let’s take a look at the weakest positional group — and a potential solution — for each NFL club. Today we’ll examine the NFC South:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Weakness: Defensive tackle depth. When healthy, the Falcons boast one of the more complete rosters in the NFL, so finding a true weak area was admittedly difficult. But defensive tackle is a roster spot where Atlanta could potentially use a few more bodies behind star Grady Jarrett. At present, former Saint Tyeler Davison is projected to start next to Jarrett, while Jack Crawford, Deadrin Senat, and reclamation project Ra’Shede Hageman will also see time.
  • Solution: Sign Mike Pennel. Surprisingly released by the Patriots earlier this week, Pennel is a 6’4″, 330-pound mammoth who would give the Falcons size on the interior. Now 28 years old, Pennel spent the past two seasons with the Jets as a rotational defensive tackle, and last year graded as the NFL’s No. 15 interior defender, per Pro Football Focus, which lauded Pennel’s strength in run defense. Pennel will almost surely land a new contract before the regular season begins, so Atlanta should act quickly.

Carolina Panthers

  • Weakness: Backup quarterback. Panthers head coach Ron Rivera expects Cam Newton to be ready for Week 1 after the veteran quarterback suffered a foot injury during the preseason, but Newton has now already broken the injury seal. Newton, of course, struggled with a shoulder issue in 2018 and was deactivated for the season’s final two games, allowing backups Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen to start one contest each. Heinicke and Allen are both still on the Carolina roster, as is third-round pick Will Grier, but the Panthers could use a more proven commodity behind Newton.
  • Solution: Trade for C.J. Beathard. While 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has said he’s keeping three quarterbacks — Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Mullens, and Beathard — on San Francisco’s roster, that’s likely a ploy to get another club to sacrifice a draft pick in exchange for either Mullens or Beathard. Mullens could be expensive to acquire given his performance in 2018, but Beathard should come cheaper given his relatively lackluster results last season. He’d come with two years of club control at cheap rates, with base salaries totaling less than $2MM through 2020.

New Orleans Saints

  • Weakness: Offensive tackle depth. The Saints have one of the league’s best offensive lines, ranking top-three in both adjusted line yards and adjusted sack rate in 2018, per Football Outsiders. But left tackle Terron Armstead had been riddled with injury questions throughout his career — he’s never played a full 16-game slate, and he’s missed 23 contests over the past three years. Journeyman Michael Ola is currently New Orleans’ top reserve at both left and right tackle.
  • Solution: Sign Jermey Parnell. New Orleans attempted to address their offensive tackle issue earlier this month by signing veteran Chris Clark, but the nine-year veteran is done for the season after suffering a leg injury. While he’s entering his age-33 campaign, Parnell is still a solid blocker, especially in the run game. He’s probably limited to right tackle, but given that Ryan Ramczyk can play both sides, Parnell could make sense for the Saints.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Weakness: Running back. The Buccaneers’ running game has been a disaster in each of the past two seasons, and while supplementing their offensive line is also an option, there are far more running backs available at this point in the NFL calendar than there are offensive linemen. Peyton Barber returns as Tampa Bay’s lead back after ranking bottom-seven in efficiency last year, while 2018 second-rounder Ronald Jones and Dare Ogunbowale also figure to have roles.
  • Solution: Trade for Rex Burkhead. Burkhead is an effective running back, but he’s behind Sony Michel, James White, Damien Harris, and maybe even fullback James Develin for carries in New England. A versatile player who can succeed on the ground and in the passing game, Burkhead would give the Buccaneers’ another option in their backfield. At the very least, he could be a third-down back and special teams maven for Tampa Bay.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/27/19

August 27th, 2019 at 3:58pm CST by Zachary Links

It was a busy day in the NFL as teams made early cuts in advance of the 53-man deadline. We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Atlanta Falcons

Arizona Cardinals

  • Signed: OL Jacob Ohnesorge

Baltimore Ravens

Detroit Lions

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Latest On Falcons, Julio Jones

August 26th, 2019 at 5:28pm CST by Sam Robinson

Despite the Saints striking first with their Michael Thomas extension nearly a month ago, the Falcons and their No. 1 wide receiver remain in talks. Jones has been unhappy with his deal for many months, missing workouts in the 2018 and ’19 offseasons. While he is tethered to the extension he signed in 2015 — now 13th in AAV — Jones reported to camp and continues to be Atlanta’s top priority.

The Falcons, who extended Deion Jones and Grady Jarrett in July, want to have their 30-year-old superstar signed by Week 1. But Arthur Blank is not certain that will happen.

“I would hope so, but I don’t know that,” Blank said, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, of an extension being finalized within the next two weeks. “We’ll have to let things take their course. I know that we are definitely in serious negotiations. It’s our goal and their goal as well to get it done before the start of the season.”

Jones’ agent, Jimmy Sexton, met with Falcons brass last week. Despite Jones’ production and Hall of Fame trajectory, this process may be a bit more complicated because of where the 2011 first-rounder is in his career. This will be Jones’ age-30 season; he is older than all but two of the wideouts (Antonio Brown and A.J. Green) who currently out-earn him. Jones is almost certain not to sign for anything less than Thomas received.

“The negotiations continue to move along in a positive way,” Blank said, reiterating he wants Jones to finish his career in Atlanta. “It’s a big contract and it’s complex and what have you. It takes a little more time than we’d like. Probably a little more time than he would like, but I know we are in a good place.”

Falcons Thought About Re-Signing Bryant

August 25th, 2019 at 10:05pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Falcons had one of the most stable kicking situations in the league until this year. Matt Bryant had been the team’s kicker for the past ten seasons before they finally decided to move on and cut him back in February. The team had Giorgio Tavecchio all set to replace him, but Tavecchio has faltered during the preseason. In response, Atlanta went out and signed Blair Walsh to provide some competition for him. Now we’ve learned Walsh wasn’t the only kicker they kicked the tires on.

Falcons coach Dan Quinn said the team discussed bringing Bryant back before ultimately going with Walsh, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). In a separate tweet, Ledbetter notes that Quinn said it will be an open competition now between Tavecchio and Walsh. Bryant has kicked in the league since 2002, but the 44-year-old has been unable to find a new gig. He made the Pro Bowl in 2016 and was usually a reliable option, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Falcons reach back out midseason if whoever they roll with to start the year slips up.

Falcons’ OL Kaleb McGary Returns To Full Practice

August 25th, 2019 at 11:48am CST by Rory Parks

Good news for Falcons fans, as 2019 first-rounder Kaleb McGary has returned to full practice, per Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com (via Twitter). McGary, who resumed on-field activities last week after undergoing a cardiac ablation procedure at the end of July, is now set to compete for Atlanta’s starting RT job.

Although a heart procedure sounds frightening, McGary has had the same operation twice before, and it is a minimally-invasive surgery. GM Thomas Dimitroff previously stated that he was comfortable with McGary’s health situation, and as of right now, it appears everything is on the right track.

McGary, of course, has a lot of ground to make up, but his competition for the RT job is not particularly inspiring. Ty Sambrailo has had a poor preseason and is presently a limited participant in practice due to a shoulder injury — as McClure notes in a separate tweet — and Matt Gono is a former UDFA who has yet to see regular season action.

Per McClure (Twitter link), head coach Dan Quinn has expressed confidence in all three of those players, but obviously the team would prefer that McGary takes the job and runs with it.

McGary, the No. 31 overall pick in this year’s draft, was the second O-lineman Atlanta added in the first round. The club also selected Boston College guard Chris Lindstrom in an effort to get better while also getting younger on the offensive front.

Falcons To Sign K Blair Walsh

August 24th, 2019 at 3:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

Another kicker shakeup may occur this preseason. With their incumbent kicker struggling, the Falcons will sign Blair Walsh, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). While Giorgio Tavecchio remains on the team, he is now set for a full-fledged competition.

The Falcons confirmed the move, which comes after Dan Quinn suggested the team would bring in competition for Tavecchio. The third-year kicker has struggled during the preseason, missing 4 of 8 attempts — including a 39-yarder — thus far this month.

A Georgia alum, Walsh worked out for the Jets and Bears this year. Both teams opted against adding the former Vikings kicker. Should Walsh beat out Tavecchio, he would face his former team in Week 1. Walsh did not play in 2018.

Walsh has not kicked since a disappointing 2017 season. The Seahawks moved on from him after he went 21-for-29 that season. Minnesota initially selected Walsh in the 2012 sixth round and used him as its kicker for five seasons. The 29-year-old specialist earned All-Pro acclaim as a rookie, going 10-for-10 from beyond 50 yards, but his miss inside of 30 yards cost the Vikings a wild-card win against the Seahawks in 2015. He has yet to fully rebound from that errant try.

The Falcons also signed defensive tackle Stefan Charles and tight end Thomas Duarte. To make room for this new trio, the team waived wide receivers Shawn Bane and Kahlil Lewis, along with offensive lineman Tommy Doles.

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