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Atlanta Falcons News & Rumors

Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. To Return In Week 9

October 31st, 2025 at 2:40pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Falcons were without their starting quarterback and top receiver in Week 8. Both are on track to return in time for Sunday’s game, though.

Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is off Atlanta’s injury report. The second-year passer was absent last week due to a bone bruise in his knee. After nearly being in position to play through the injury this past Sunday, it comes as little surprise he will manage to return in time for the Falcons’ upcoming game against the Patriots.

The same is also true of receiver Drake London, who was absent in Week 8 as a result of a hip injury which emerged late in preparation for the game. The 24-year-old was a limited participant in practice over the past two days before logging a full session on Friday. As a result, London is now set to return at the same time Atlanta’s QB1 will resume his first full campaign atop the depth chart.

The Falcons have run hot and cold in 2025. The team suffered a 24-point loss against the Dolphins in Week 8 with Kirk Cousins making his first start of the season alongside a shorthanded skill position group. Having Penix and London back in the fold will be key against a Patriots team riding a five-game winning streak.

Atlanta’s offense has flashed potential when at full strength this season, although the 3-4 team would certainly benefit from better consistency in all facets. A strong run of availability would be a critical factor in that regard, especially as Penix’s evaluation period in a full-time starting role continues. That process will see him take the field with a healthier group around him on Sunday.

Falcons LB Arnold Ebiketie Generating Trade Interest

October 29th, 2025 at 6:50pm CST by Ben Levine

For teams seeking some under-the-radar help on the edge, Atlanta could have an answer to their needs. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler passed along today that Falcons linebacker Arnold Ebiketie is generating trade interest.

In fact, the former second-round pick has been a trade target since the preseason, although the Falcons haven’t shown any desire to trade him up to this point. Fowler notes that Atlanta’s front office will listen to offers on any players, leading the reporter to believe Ebiketie could be had for the right price.

Ebiketie appeared to be a foundational piece as recently as last season. The Penn State product collected 12 sacks between the 2023 and 2024 seasons, and he added another 24 QB hits and nine tackles for loss over that span. Pro Football Focus graded him 46th among 119 qualifying edge defenders for his performance last season.

As the Falcons prioritized youth on defense in 2025, Ebiketie has seen a lesser role behind the likes of James Pearce Jr. and Jalon Walker. Ebiketie has yet to record a sack this season while compiling 21 stops. PFF currently ranks him 52nd among 119 qualifiers, with his score being partially propped up by his coverage grade.

The 26-year-old is set to hit free agency following the season, so even if the Falcons do intend to keep him around for a second contract, a trade partner probably wouldn’t be required to give up a haul for the pass rusher. For teams that are unable to pry away some of the more popular pass-rush names on the market, Ebiketie may end up being a logical fallback option.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/28/25

October 28th, 2025 at 8:44pm CST by Ely Allen

Today’s practice squad transactions from across the NFL:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

The Steelers have seen injuries ravage their secondary in recent weeks. They made a big move not long ago to address the position, but Forrest comes in with some additional experience, providing depth at safety.

The 49ers are letting go of Parker, a former third-round pick who failed to find success with the Raiders, in order to make room for Dillard, a former first-round pick who failed to ever establish himself as a full-time starter in the NFL. Dillard spent the offseason with San Francisco, eventually getting released from injured reserve with an injury settlement. He’s been a free agent ever since and now signs his first ever practice squad deal.

After getting signed to the Commanders’ practice squad to fill in for an injured Matt Gay last night, Wright returns to free agency. In a low-scoring Sunday night affair, Wright made his only kick — a single extra point attempt.

Falcons To Start Kirk Cousins Due To Michael Penix Jr. Injury

October 26th, 2025 at 7:47am CST by Nikhil Mehta

OCTOBER 26: Penix has a “real chance” to be back in the starting lineup when the Falcons take on the Patriots in Week 9, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network. If today’s game against Miami were a playoff contest, Rapoport says Penix may be playing.

OCTOBER 25, 9:44pm: Cousins will indeed start tomorrow, Schefter reports in a follow-up. It will mark his first opportunity of the season to handle starting duties since Penix overtook him on the depth chart late in 2024.

2:40pm: Veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins hasn’t made a start since the Falcons benched him for then-rookie Michael Penix Jr. in mid-December last season. Penix remains Atlanta’s QB1, but he’s now dealing with a bone bruise in his left knee. As a result, it’s “highly likely” that Cousins will start Sunday against the 1-6 Dolphins, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.

Penix, who suffered his injury in a loss to the 49ers last Sunday night, was limited in practice all week and is now listed as questionable. On Friday, Falcons coach Raheem Morris said Cousins had taken “significant” reps this week in practice and more reps later in the week rather than earlier.

“I’m really confident in our backup,” Morris said of Cousins. “We’re going to give [Penix] every opportunity we can give him. The kid is tough. He’s a guy. He’s a stud.”

As a four-time Pro Bowler who’s in the second season of a four-year, $180MM contract (with $100MM guaranteed), Cousins isn’t your typical backup. Cousins signed with the Falcons with the expectation that he’d serve as their unquestioned starter for multiple seasons. However, the team surprisingly used the eighth overall pick on Penix a little over a month later, immediately giving the Falcons an heir apparent.

Despite his exorbitant contract, Cousins fell out of favor in his first season with the Falcons as he struggled to regain form after tearing his Achilles while with the Vikings in 2023. He also dealt with shoulder and elbow injuries last season.

While Cousins wanted out of Atlanta during the offseason, the team wasn’t willing to grant his wish. Although Cousins has come up in trade rumors since then, the Falcons haven’t actively shopped him. They also won’t move him unless an acquiring team takes on the remainder of his fully guaranteed $27.5MM salary for 2026. That makes a trade before the Nov. 4 deadline highly unrealistic, setting up the 37-year-old to ride out the season in Atlanta.

For his part, Penix hasn’t come out of the gates quickly since he took over for Cousins. The Falcons are 4-5 in his starts, including 3-3 this season. The 25-year-old lefty has completed 61% of passes for 1,409 yards, five touchdowns, and three interceptions in 2025. His 47.7 QBR ranks 22nd in the NFL, while advanced metrics from Pro Football Focus indicate that he has actually regressed since last year. Penix’s percentage of big-time throws, average depth of target, and turnover-worthy plays have all gone in the wrong direction.

With Morris regarding Penix as a “stud,” Cousins may not have a chance to reclaim the starting job even if fills in and plays well. However, it will be intriguing to see if a successful Cousins start leads to a QB controversy. The Falcons are second in total defense and seventh in total offense, but they rank 28th in points per game under Penix and are tied for the league’s second-worst red zone touchdown percentage. They’re sitting in 11th place in the NFC as a result.

Connor Byrne contributed to this post. 

Falcons Place LB Divine Deablo On IR, Activate S Jordan Fuller

October 25th, 2025 at 4:41pm CST by Connor Byrne

Linebacker Divine Deablo has been superb in his first season with the Falcons, but the team will go without him for the foreseeable future. The Falcons placed Deablo on IR with a broken forearm on Saturday. He’ll miss at least four games and won’t be eligible to return until Week 12.

[RELATED: Kirk Cousins To Start Week 8]

A former third-round pick and a Raider for the first four seasons of his career, Deablo left Las Vegas to sign a two-year, $14MM pact with Atlanta last March. The deal worked out well for the Falcons until Deablo suffered his injury in a loss to the 49ers last Sunday.

Over six games this year (all starts), Deablo has tallied 24 tackles, four passes defensed, a fumble recovery, and a half-sack. Opposing quarterbacks have mustered a weak 79.6 passer rating when they’ve thrown Deablo’s way. Not surprisingly, Pro Football Focus ranks Deablo’s overall performance seventh among 78 qualifying linebackers.

Thanks in part to Deablo, Atlanta’s defense ranks second in the NFL in yards per game allowed and eighth in points surrendered this year. Second-year linebacker JD Bertrand will be among those tasked with filling in for Deablo. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said this week he’ll take a “committee” approach in replacing the 6-foot-3, 223-pound Deablo, who combines a linebacker’s size with the athleticism of a defensive back (via Scott Kennedy of SI.com).

While Deablo is now on injured reserve, the Falcons brought back safety Jordan Fuller from IR on Saturday. The former Ram and Panther signed a one-year deal with the Falcons last March, joining Deablo as an offseason free agent pickup. He played 16 of his 17 snaps on special teams in a Week 1 loss to the Buccaneers before succumbing to a knee injury. With 56 career starts, Fuller will give the Falcons experienced depth behind the starting safety tandem of Jessie Bates and Xavier Watts.

Linebacker/defensive back Ronnie Harrison will join Fuller as part of Atlanta’s ‘D’ on Sunday against Miami. The Falcons signed Harrison from their practice squad to their 53-man roster on Saturday. They also elevated quarterback Easton Stick and wide receiver Dylan Drummond from their P-squad.

With backup quarterback Kirk Cousins considered ” highly likely” to start in place of usual starter Michael Penix Jr., who’s dealing with a knee injury, Stick’s elevation likely indicates that Penix will be inactive on Sunday. Since Stick isn’t on the 53-man roster, only two quarterbacks will be active for tomorrow’s game. If Penix is able to start, Stick will likely be designated the inactive third quarterback, but with things trending towards Cousins starting behind center to start tomorrow’s game, Penix could be the inactive passer.

NFL Minor Transactions: 10/22/25

October 22nd, 2025 at 7:36pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s midweek minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Miami Dolphins

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Designated to return from IR: QB Will Howard
  • Waived (with injury settlement): T Gareth Warren

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

While several players were designated to return from injured reserve today, Norton and Johnson’s designations took place back on 8/26, the roster cut deadline. The Texans are in danger of being without their top three receivers in Week 8. Tank Dell is already on IR, but Nico Collins and Christian Kirk’s statuses for the weekend are up in the air as Collins deals with a concussion and Kirk has been dealing with n hamstring injury.

Not that they’ve needed him, since Aaron Rodgers has looked a bit more effective than he was in his days with the Jets, but Howard is nearing a return to the roster for the remainder of his rookie season. It will be interesting to see where the sixth-rounder slots in on the depth chart as he adds another level of security behind the 41-year-old Rodgers.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/21/25

October 21st, 2025 at 8:38pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad moves:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: OL Raiqwon O’Neal
  • Placed on IR: OL Ryan Hayes

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

  • Signed: OL Marques Cox
  • Released: OL Karsen Barnhart

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

  • Signed: DE Seth Coleman
  • Released: CB Keenan Garber

Los Angeles Chargers

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • Signed: DT Fatorma Mulbah

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Falcons Release WR Ray-Ray McCloud

October 21st, 2025 at 3:06pm CST by Sam Robinson

After being sent home from Falcons practice late last week, Ray-Ray McCloud is done with the team. Atlanta is officially moving on via release, per a team announcement.

This is not especially surprising, considering the Falcons had booted the veteran wide receiver/return man from a workout before its Week 7 game. McCloud became a healthy scratch for the second straight game. This evidently did not go over well, and the parties will split midway through their second season together.

Cutting McCloud, who is a vested veteran set to avoid the waiver wire, will bring less than $500K in dead money for the Falcons. He had been tied to a two-year, $5MM deal; the guarantees paid out in 2024. Only part of McCloud’s signing bonus will be left on Atlanta’s payroll.

Considering McCloud’s 2024 production, this is a surprising cut. But the partnership had trended downward this year. The career return specialist erupted for 686 receiving yards and 765 from scrimmage — both far and away career-high marks — and worked as the team’s primary kick returner. He had been less involved this year, returning four kicks and a punt and adding six receptions for 64 yards.

Raheem Morris said the McCloud situation is not tied to the team’s decision to fire receivers coach Ike Hilliard. McCloud, however, saw his role vastly reduced after that decision. He played 69.7% of the team’s offensive snaps in Week 3; after Hilliard’s firing a day later, the slot target was at 35.4% in Week 4. He has not played since, being scratched for the team’s games against the Bills and 49ers.

No WR3 has emerged in Atlanta this season, with Drake London and Darnell Mooney the top two cogs at the position and Kyle Pitts in place at tight end. The Falcons are seeing Bijan Robinson craft a dominant season in what could be a de facto contract year, as his first offseason of extension-eligibility (after Morris has heaped praise on the former No. 8 overall pick) comes in 2026. Robinson’s 390 receiving yards are second to London on the roster, and the RB’s 914 scrimmage yards trail only Christian McCaffrey (981) in the NFL. Atlanta’s third-leading WR (Casey Washington) has five receptions for 69 yards.

Since the Falcons cut McCloud before the trade deadline, he will pass directly to free agency. The Falcons were the 29-year-old’s fifth NFL team, after he had bounced from Buffalo to Carolina to Pittsburgh to San Francisco between 2018-23. McCloud’s return history at the very least figures to generate interest from teams, even as being dropped after being dismissed from practice is not exactly a good look.

Falcons LB Divine Deablo To Miss Time

October 20th, 2025 at 10:59pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Falcons linebacker Divine Deablo was off to an exciting start this season, but his potential breakout was interrupted by a broken forearm suffered in Sunday’s loss to the 49ers.

Head coach Raheem Morris said (via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that Deablo would “miss some time,” but added that the fifth-year linebacker is expected to return this season. 2024 fifth-rounder JD Bertrand replaced Deablo after he went down on Sunday night and will likely fill Deablo’s role moving forward.

Originally a Raiders third-round pick in 2021, Deablo did not emerge as an impact starter on his rookie contract. He signed a two-year, $14MM deal with the Falcons this offseason that quickly looked like a great deal through his first five games. The 27-year-old started alongside veteran inside linebacker Kaden Elliss as a crucial part of an impressive defense that ranks second in yards allowed and eighth in points allowed this year. Deablo’s team-high 86.0 defensive grade from Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranks seventh among all inside linebackers this season, and he has been particularly impressive in coverage, allowing only a 79.6 passer rating when targeted with four pass break-ups.

Deablo will now be sidelined for multiple weeks and could even be placed on injured reserve depending on the severity of his injury. However, suffering a broken forearm – as opposed to a significant lower-body injury – will give him a good chance at coming back strong later this season.

Bengals Considered Long List Of QBs Before Joe Flacco Trade

October 18th, 2025 at 11:06pm CST by Connor Byrne

After a Week 5 loss to the Lions, their third straight lopsided defeat under backup signal-caller Jake Browning, the Bengals aggressively began searching for a different Joe Burrow fill-in. Led by director of player personnel Duke Tobin, the Bengals put together an extensive list of potential upgrades over Browning, Albert Breer of SI.com details.

Before swinging a trade with the division-rival Browns for Joe Flacco, the Bengals considered Anthony Richardson (Colts); Kirk Cousins (Falcons); the Giants’ backup duo of Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston; the Rams’ Jimmy Garoppolo and Stetson Bennett; Tanner McKee (Eagles); and Josh Johnson (Commanders). They joined the previously reported Derek Carr (Saints), Sam Howell (Eagles), Drew Lock (Seahawks), and Davis Mills (Texans) in Cincinnati’s exhaustive search.

The Bengals narrowed the list down to five before choosing Flacco as the best option, according to Breer. It’s unclear who joined the 40-year-old in the group of finalists or whether the Bengals even made calls on all of those QBs.

In the end, Flacco won out as a result of a few factors. Flacco is affordable ($1.26MM base salary) and only cost a fifth-round pick. The well-traveled Super Bowl XLVII MVP also has plenty of AFC North experience, and coordinator Dan Pitcher identified him as a clear fit based on similarities between Cincinnati’s offense and Cleveland’s in terms of “spacing the field and progressing pass concepts,” Breer writes.

Two weeks into what will be a short-lived run as the Bengals’ starter, Flacco has looked like a shrewd acquisition. The Bengals lost his first start to the Packers, but they bounced back with an upset over the division-rival Steelers on Thursday.

Flacco outdueled fellow 40-something Aaron Rodgers in Week 7, going 31 for 47 for 342 yards and three touchdowns in a 33-31 thriller. He made superstar wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase the focal point of the offense, targeting him on a jaw-dropping 23 throws and hitting him 16 times for 161 yards and a score. Chase has already hauled in 26 passes and two of Flacco’s five TDs as a Bengal. Flacco has yet to throw a pick with the team after tossing six in four games with the Browns.

The goal in acquiring Flacco was to hang around long enough to make a potential Burrow return worthwhile in 2025. Burrow, who underwent toe surgery on Sept. 19, is expected to miss at least three months. That means the Bengals will have to stay in the race into December under Flacco. At 3-4, they trail the division-leading Steelers (4-2) and sit in ninth place in the AFC. While the Bengals are still facing an uphill climb, Flacco has at least given them a more credible option than Browning under center.

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