- Although Vic Beasley will play a Bruce Irvin-like role with the Falcons after relocating from defensive end to linebacker, he’s still expected to return to a three-point stance on passing downs, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Atlanta’s coaches left the decision up to the 2015 first-rounder, though if it was their preference Beasley move to linebacker, this may have been a choice in name only.
- The Falcons are making a few changes to their defensive alignment, including shifting Vic Beasley to strongside linebacker. The eighth pick in last year’s draft, Beasley spent his rookie campaign as a LEO pass rusher, as Kevin Patra of NFL.com notes, and totaled four sacks while playing in all 16 of the team’s games. The ex-Clemson star had a difficult time against the run, writes Patra, which would explain the switch. Beasley will now fill the role that former Seahawk Bruce Irvin occupied when Falcons head coach Dan Quinn was Seattle’s defensive coordinator in 2014. Patra, however, is skeptical of the decision because it’ll lead to fewer pass-rushing opportunities for Beasley.
- In addition to moving Beasley, the Falcons will give Ra’Shede Hageman a look at defensive end and try DE Tyson Jackson at D-tackle, per Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. Hageman, a second-round pick in 2014, spent his first two seasons at tackle, amassing 43 tackles and two sacks in 32 games (11 starts). On playing end, the former Minnesota standout said, “It’s something I did in college. It’s a nice little move for me.” The Falcons believe the change will give the 310-pound Hageman a better opportunity to take advantage of his size and strength.
- The Falcons announced the signing of offensive lineman Laurence Gibson, a former seventh-round pick by Dallas, as Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com tweets. Gibson, who was on the KC’s practice squad last year, can play both tackle and guard.
Days after the Panthers released him, Brandon Boykin will visit one of their rivals. The former Eagles and Steelers cornerback will visit the Falcons on Monday, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
The Falcons and three other teams reportedly had interest in the slot corner before he signed with the Panthers in late March, Ledbetter reports. Although, Atlanta is the first team to secure a visit with the 5-foot-9 player now that he’s again a free agent.
Only signed to a minimum-salary deal despite success in the slot for both Pennsylvania teams, Boykin did not stick on a Panthers roster that, despite losing Josh Norman to free agency, added three corners in the draft.
Traded from the Eagles to the Steelers last August, Boykin graded as Pittsburgh’s best cornerback last season — per Pro Football Focus — despite barely playing enough snaps to qualify for full-time status. Although not lauded for his work against the run at 183 pounds, Boykin graded as PFF’s No. 23 overall corner last year among full-time qualifiers. With the Eagles in 2014, he came in at 21st. The analytical praise notwithstanding, Boykin has only started seven games in five years.
Despite the Steelers not playing him much until injuries forced their hand in December, the 25-year-old Boykin hasn’t allowed a pass longer than 33 yards to be completed against him over the past two seasons, Sam Monson of PFF writes.
The Falcons also brought in Leon Hall for a visit but passed on the longtime Bengals cog after reviewing his medical records, Ledbetter writes. Atlanta plans to relocate Robert Alford to a nickel position and hopes Jalen Collins and win the No. 2 job opposite Desmond Trufant, although Collins must serve a four-game ban to start the season.
Boykin is a Georgia native who played for the Bulldogs in college.
Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images
- The Falcons won’t be signing veteran cornerback Leon Hall, according to ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure. The 31-year-old auditioned for Atlanta last week, and considering coach Dan Quinn’s comments regarding the player’s injury history, McClure presumes that Hall didn’t check out medically.
- Despite suggesting that every team deserves an ‘A’ for their draft efforts, Falcons owner Arthur Blank was particularly happy with his team’s haul. “You think from our perspective, I would give our coach and general manager Thomas (Dimitroff) a grade A because I know that every single position they drafted very specifically for exactly what the coach wanted and the coaching needs in terms of defense or in terms of the offense,” Blank told Doug Roberson of AJC.com. “Hopefully, that will play out in a successful way over the next couple of years.”
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- Reports continue to link the Raiders to Las Vegas, but Falcons owner Arthur Blank isn’t yet entirely sold on the idea. “I think whether or not there are enough people in Las Vegas to support a team is a question,” Blank told Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. “I haven’t seen the data on that to support it or not support it. It’s certainly a dynamic market. It’s a growth market. It’s got tremendous tourism, a lot of convention business. So it’s certainly a consideration.”
Matt Bryant will celebrate his 41st birthday in a few weeks, but he’s not thinking retirement. The kicker says that he is looking forward to getting back to his old form in 2016 after a difficult 2015. 
“I’m good,” Bryant said, according to ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure. “Rest and not pushing it was the best. I could have played the last two games but without being 100 percent mentally sure about it, I expressed and it was agreed that it wouldn’t be the best for the team or myself. I still have some good, productive years left. I won’t let one anomaly of a year get in the way of what I’ve done and what I’m still capable of.”
Of course, it’s not a given that Bryant will have the Falcons’ kicking job this year. The veteran made 14 of 18 field goals through ten games in 2015 before being placed on season-ending IR with a quad injury. Bryant avoided surgery on the injured quad, but Atlanta still wants to see if he has maintained strength in his kicking leg. As a Plan B for the veteran, the Falcons have signed undrafted kicker Nick Rose out of Texas. Rose made 13 of 17 field goals last season and also gained some internet notoriety when he nailed an 80-yard field goal in practice.
Bryant is scheduled to make $2.85MM in 2016, with a $1.3MM roster bonus. He’s also under contract for 2017 and he’ll carry a $2.833MM cap number in that season if he remains on the Falcons’ roster. Bryant’s current salary places him as the 14th highest paid kicker in the NFL, according to the data at Over The Cap.
Photo courtesy of USA Today of Sports Images.
- We heard last week that free agent linebacker O’Brien Schofield is interested in rejoining the Falcons. According to head coach Dan Quinn, the door is “never closed with Scho.” However, as Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com details, the two sides have been unable to agree on contract terms, despite the fact that Atlanta made Schofield an offer.
SATURDAY, 6:05pm: The Falcons announced that they’ve added a trio of undrafted free agents on Saturday:
- OL Shahbaz Ahmed (Temple)
- WR David Glidden (Oklahoma State)
- DE Brandon Williams (Southern Illinois).
The Falcons also announced that they waived four of their previously signed undrafted free agents: Gerald Dixon Jr., Alex Fifita, Malachi Jones, and David Richards.
THURSDAY, 4:21pm: Despite the fact that Atlanta only selected six players during last weekend’s draft, the Falcons’ rookie minicamp will be a busy place. The team confirmed today that it has signed 22 undrafted free agents to fill out its roster, with another 27 free agent rookies headed to the minicamp to try out for the club.
The full list of 27 tryout players can be found right here. Listed below are the 22 players who have agreed to contracts with the Falcons:
- DE Josh Dawson (Georgia)
- DT Gerald Dixon Jr. (South Carolina)
- OL Cody Elenz (Lamar)
- OL Alex Fifita (Fresno State)
- LB Torrey Green (Utah State)
- DT Cory Johnson (Kentucky)
- WR Daje Johnson (Texas)
- CB Devonte Johnson (Weber State)
- WR Malachi Jones (Appalachian State)
- NT Chris Mayes (Georgia)
- WR J.D. McKissic (Arkansas State)
- LB Ivan McLennan (Washington State)
- CB David Mims II (Texas State)
- DB Sharrod Neasman (Florida Atlantic)
- TE Joshua Perkins (Washington)
- DB Brian Poole (Florida)
- FB Will Ratelle (North Dakota)
- OL Jake Reed (Indiana)
- WR David Richards (Arizona)
- K Nick Rose (Texas)
- CB Jordan Sefon (St. Cloud State)
- RB Brandon Wilds (South Carolina)
Given quarterback Sam Bradford‘s unhappiness in Philadelphia, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk examined the seemingly far-fetched possibility of the 28-year-old retiring – at least temporarily. Bradford would have to surrender the $11MM signing bonus he received from the Eagles earlier this offseason if he were to walk away, but he would offset that loss somewhat by avoiding any fines or forfeitures that would accompany a potential holdout.
The appeal of retiring from Bradford’s point of view is that he could wait for another team’s starting quarterback to suffer an injury, whether it be this year or in 2017, thus leading that club to approach the Eagles about a trade. It would be similar to the situation Carson Palmer found himself in five years ago as a disgruntled member of the Bengals. Early in the 2011 season, the Raiders lost starter Jason Campbell to an injury and then made a trade with the Bengals to bring Palmer out of his short-lived retirement.
Most teams’ starting quarterback situations are set right now, and the Eagles haven’t shown a willingness to move Bradford in the wake of trading up to No. 2 in the draft for Carson Wentz and signing Chase Daniel, so Florio opines that retirement could be his most sensible option.
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- There was potential for a New York-New York trade in the first round of last week’s draft, according to the New York Daily News’ Gary Myers, who reports that the Jets offered their first- (20th overall) and second-rounders to the Giants for No. 10. The Jets had their sights set on Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, but the Giants didn’t want to move down and risk losing out on Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple. Had the Giants accepted the Jets’ offer, they would have either taken TCU wideout Josh Doctson or the best cornerback available (likely Houston’s William Jackson III) at No. 20, per Myers. Doctson ultimately went 22nd to Washington and Jackson landed with the Bengals two picks later. Meanwhile, instead of nabbing Tunsil, the Jets kept their top two picks and used them on Ohio State linebacker Darron Lee and Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg.
- The Falcons are currently mulling whether to sign free agent cornerback Leon Hall, who visited them this week, reports Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. Hall would add depth to a Falcons defensive backfield in need of it, especially given the four-game suspension the league handed Jalen Collins, as McClure writes. The ex-Michigan standout’s entire NFL career has thus far been spent in Cincinnati, where he totaled 26 interceptions from 2007-15, though it doesn’t appear he’ll return to the Bengals. Aside from the Falcons, Hall has also visited the Giants, Cardinals and Cowboys this offseason, but his age (31) and injury history (he has torn both Achilles) are seemingly working against him in landing a contract.
- With the draft in the books, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com took a look at six Lions veterans whose jobs could now be in jeopardy. Meinke points to quarterback Dan Orlovsky, center Travis Swanson, offensive tackle Cornelius Lucas, linebacker Kyle Van Noy, defensive tackle Gabe Wright and long snapper Don Muhlbach as players who aren’t locks to remain in the Motor City.