Falcons Sign CB William Middleton To Practice Squad

by Dave the Falconer on Sep 14, 2009 9:44 PM EDT in Falcons News Comment 8 comments

More photos » by Seth Perlman - AP

He's back, baby! (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)

William Middleton's odd journey brought him right back around to where he started.

On the same day when the Falcons announced they were re-signing running back Verron Haynes, they also cut cornerback Glenn Sharpe from the practice squad and brought back Middleton. As someone who firmly believes Middleton has all the tools to be a future locker room leader and valuable addition to the cornerbacking corps, I'm somewhere between "hooray!" and "why didn't you just sign the guy in the first place?"Middleton, if you'll recall, was cut by the Falcons after a quiet rookie pre-season, signed by the Tampa Bay Bucs and let go again shortly after.

This is more good news for our corner depth, which with Sunday's quality play suddenly looks very good. Given the fact that guys like Keith Zinger and Eric Weems have carved out roster spots following stints on the practice squad, I'm excited to see what Middleton can do in the future. Because it would mean an injury, however, I'm hoping this is the last we hear of him in 2009.

Your thoughts?

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Comments

I'm glad we picked him back up

I think the reason he was released in the first place was his inability to adjust to the speed of the NFL. A year on the practice squad might be enough to remedy that problem and his personality in the locker room is the kind that will be more than welcome in our future… but I agree with you, I hope it is our distant future rather than sooner.

I wonder how long it takes to wash out a Buc stain? I bet the kid smells terrible.

know what you believe in and why you believe in it

by MentallyMIA on Sep 14, 2009 11:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

An acid bath

Should take care of that.

by Dave the Falconer on Sep 14, 2009 11:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Glad to have hime over Sharpe

Any word on why we cut Haynes just to re sign him?

by FLA_Falcon on Sep 15, 2009 6:07 AM EDT via mobile reply actions 0 recs

$$$, it always is

If we would have kept him on the roster for that week 1, his entire salary would have been guarenteed for the rest of this year (due to his status as a veteran). By doing this they wont be on the hook for his entire salary if they happen to part ways with him later in the season. So, if we need to make another roster move, he would be the guy we are looking at to make room.

by qthaballa on Sep 16, 2009 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

meh

meh,,,

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Sep 15, 2009 10:42 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

You are a man of many words

by Dave the Falconer on Sep 17, 2009 3:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm pretty sure...

That other teams are allowed to have a chance to sign guys before they can be put on practice squads. I think TB signed him, so we couldn’t put him on the practice squad. Now that he was released, we took the opportunity to get him back in our system. I think.

by TomQ on Sep 17, 2009 8:36 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs