Cameron Nizialek

Falcons To Carry Two QBs On Practice Squad

The Falcons agreed to add 14 players to their practice squad Sunday. Teams can re-sign players they cut to P-squads if they clear waivers after Saturday’s cuts.

Atlanta will take the unusual step of carrying two P-squad quarterbacks. The team cut both Kyle Lauletta and Kurt Benkert on Saturday, but both landed on the Falcons’ taxi squad. Teams are allowed to carry 16 players — up from 10 in 2019 — on their squads.

Benkert, who was with Atlanta in 2019, and Lauletta — a recent Giants draftee who recently joined the Falcons — will play behind active-roster QBs Matt Ryan and Matt Schaub. Here is the Falcons’ full squad:

Ravens Move Down To 53

The Ravens minced their roster to 53 players, parting ways with UDFA Gerald Willis to get there. Baltimore also placed Tavon Young and Kenneth Dixon on IR.

Young suffered a neck injury recently and will miss a full season for the second time in three years. While Baltimore boasts a deep cornerback corps, losing its slot man again will not help the high-end defense’s cause. Dixon will head back to IR. The Ravens placed him on IR in September 2018 but used an IR-return slot on him. That will not be an option this year, which doubles as the running back’s contract slate.

Character concerns caused Willis, viewed as a high-Day 3-type prospect out of Miami, to go undrafted. He is now on the waiver wire.

Here are Baltimore’s cuts:

Placed on IR:

Ravens Sign Kicker/Punter Cameron Nizialek

The Ravens have signed kicker Cameron Nizialek, according to the team’s Twitter feed. According to Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic (Twitter link), Nizialek was brought in to ease the reps on Justin Tucker, so he doesn’t appear to be any threat to Tucker’s roster spot.

Nizialek, who is from Virginia, most recently played in the American Football Alliance before the league shut down. He can serve as both a kicker and punter, as he did the latter during his time at the University of Georgia. Baltimore waived punter Sean Smith earlier this week, so it’s possible Nizialek could make the team in that capacity.

Prior to his stop in Georgia where he was a graduate student, Nizialek spent four years at Columbia University. During his time in the Ivy League, he handled both kicking and punting duties.