The Falcons don’t intend to waive recently suspended cornerback Jalen Collins in the very near future, but it appears the club is still assessing its options, as D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. “The disappointment for having a second, repeat offense is stronger,” head coach Dan Quinn said Monday. “This just came through yesterday. Some trust has been broken. We’ll take all the time that we need to make the best decision for the team.” Atlanta now has the secondary depth to withstand a Collins release, per Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com, who identifies C.J. Goodwin and Deji Olatoye as valuable reserve pieces. Collins is suspended through late November, so the Falcons don’t have to make a decision on his status for some time.
For the second straight year, Falcons cornerback Jalen Collins will be suspended without pay for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
The Falcons announced the suspension. It’s a 10-game ban because Collins was suspended four games in 2016 for a PED violation.
“We are extremely disappointed that for the second straight season we are dealing with a suspension for Jalen,” Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff said. “Such are the consequences when certain choices are made. Our decisions going forward will be based on what Dan and I feel is best for the team.”
A second-round pick in 2015, Collins returned from suspension and started six games for Atlanta after opening with the Falcons’ first unit in two games as a rookie. Collins started all three Falcons playoff games. He intercepted two passes and made 31 tackles during the regular season. The Falcons now have Desmond Trufant back healthy, along with well-compensated No. 2 corner Robert Alford.
Although he’s eligible to stay with the team throughout the preseason, Collins won’t be eligible to return to the Falcons until November 21. The 24-year-old defender has been working with Atlanta’s third team thus far during camp. The Falcons did not make any high-profile outside additions at corner this offseason.
An extension for Falcons running back Devonta Freeman doesn’t appear imminent, but an agreement should come together by early September, writes Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. The Falcons and Freeman’s agent, Kristin Campbell, are engaging in daily conversations, and both sides are motivated to reach a deal, adds Graziano. Atlanta regards the 25-year-old as a cornerstone player after witnessing him pile up 1,000-plus rushing yards in each of the previous two campaigns, to go with 27 touchdowns (22 on the ground, five as a receiver) and 127 catches. Freeman provided that production while making a relative pittance, and he’ll earn another low base salary this year ($1.797MM) if talks with the Falcons fall through. It doesn’t appear that will happen, however.
Falcons wide receiver/return man Devin Fuller suffered a torn ACL on Friday, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Fuller has now succumbed to season-ending injuries in back-to-back summers.
Atlanta’s seventh-round pick in 2016, the speedy Fuller won’t have an opportunity to make his NFL debut until 2018 – if he plays in the league at all. The former UCLA Bruin cracked the eventual NFC champions’ roster a year ago, but they placed him on injured reserve before Week 1 with a shoulder issue.
While Fuller’s latest injury is an awful development for the 23-year-old, it doesn’t necessarily change the calculus for the high-flying Falcons. Fuller was on the low end of a depth chart that includes the inimitable Julio Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Taylor Gabriel, free agent pickup Andre Roberts and Justin Hardy.
Atlanta Falcons
- The Falcons have added offensive lineman Larson Graham, an undrafted rookie from Duquesne.
Although he hasn’t gotten a new contract yet, Falcons running back Devonta Freeman reported to training camp Wednesday, per Zach Klein of WSB in Atlanta (on Twitter). Freeman insisted during the offseason that he wouldn’t hold out, so it’s not surprising that he joined his teammates at the outset of camp. While Freeman’s agent left town after a meeting with Falcons brass on Wednesday, talks are ongoing, according to ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure, who suggests that a deal could come together by Thursday.
Wednesday’s minor moves:
- The Saints have waived running back Marcus Murphy and moved offensive lineman Chris Watt to the reserved/retired list, tweets Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com. Murphy, whom the Saints chose in the seventh round of the 2015 draft, served almost exclusively as a return man over his first two years, but he became superfluous to the team thanks to its offseason additions of Ted Ginn Jr. and Alvin Kamara. Watt signed with the Saints just over a month ago and looked like a candidate to function as interior O-line depth. That won’t be the case, though. The 26-year-old entered the NFL as a third-rounder of the Chargers in 2014 and started in eight of 17 appearances with them through last season.
- The Jets have cut wide receiver Devin Street, per Clarence Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram (on Twitter). New York will use Street’s old roster spot on Lucky Whitehead, whom it claimed off waivers from Dallas on Wednesday. A three-year veteran, Street was teammates with Whitehead when the two were on the Cowboys in 2015. Street was a member of the Colts last season, when he totaled five appearances and one catch. Indianapolis cut Street after the season, and both the Patriots and Jets have since waived him after short stints.
- Safety Ricardo Allen has signed his exclusive rights free agent tender with the Falcons, who have waived undrafted offensive lineman Cam Keizer. Allen, a fifth-rounder in 2014, has emerged as an integral cog in Atlanta, having started in 30 of 31 appearances and picking off five passes since debuting in 2015. He racked up 90 tackles and two picks across 16 starts and a team-high 1,101 defensive snaps last year.
- The Vikings have signed cornerback Sam Brown and waived offensive tackle Arturo Uzdavinis. Brown spent some time last year with the Ravens, who signed him as an undrafted free agent from Missouri Western State, but didn’t see any action. Uzdavinis just signed with the Vikings on Monday. They quickly became the fifth former team for the 2016 undrafted free agent from Tulane, who previously spent time with the Texans, Bears, Jaguars and Lions.
- The Patriots have added defensive end Caleb Kidder, an undrafted rookie from Montana. Kidder previously had a brief stint with Minnesota, which cut him last week.
The latest from Atlanta:
- Devonta Freeman‘s agent left town after meeting with Falcons brass over the past couple days, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com hears (on Twitter). Meanwhile, the team isn’t putting a deadline on a deal. The Falcons had hoped to hammer something out by the time training camp started, but it sounds like completing an extension will take longer than anticipated. Recently, Le’Veon Bell rejected the Steelers’ offer of a five-year deal with a $12MM average annual value, $30MM in the first two years of the deal, and $42MM over the first three seasons. Freeman’s camp may be using the framework of that proposal as a baseline for talks.
- There have yet to be substantive talks between the Falcons and quarterback Matt Ryan, Pelissero tweets. The Falcons will likely wait until after the season to talk contract with Matty Ice, Pelissero adds. Ryan is signed through 2018 and is slated to carry cap charges in excess of $21MM in each of the next two seasons. The league’s reigning MVP is probably willing to wait for Matthew Stafford to sign a big money extension of his own with the Lions before getting serious about next deal.
- Falcons nose tackle Dontari Poe weighed in below 330 pounds today, giving the free agent addition his $125K make-weight bonus, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Many expected Poe to sign a lucrative multi-year deal, but he wound up settling for a one-year deal as teams felt unsure about his conditioning.
The Falcons are set to begin training camp this week, but Thomas Dimitroff said he’ll be focused on working out a contract with running back Devonta Freeman. The general manager told ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure that he’d like to have a deal finalized by Thursday at the latest (Twitter link).