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Reports: Falcons Trade Akeem Dent For QB T.J. Yates, Sign LB Tim Dobbins

The Falcons have a new backup quarterback.

By Dave Choate
Andrew Richardson-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Falcons have traded linebacker Akeem Dent to Houston for QB T.J. Yates in a late night stunner. They picked up Tim Dobbins to take Dent's spot on the roster.

The trade makes sense on several levels, even if it's hardly the kind of move you jump up and down about. The Falcons had Sean Renfree, Dominique Davis and Jeff Mathews competing to back up Matt Ryan, and this move obviously indicates a level of discomfort with those options. Perhaps Renfree or Mathews will be an option down the line, but Yates is an on-paper upgrade over all of these players, and he immediately becomes the #2 in Atlanta.

There's some weirdness here because Yates was a reported release earlier in the day, but clearly he was still part of the Texans for this trade to take place, so roll with it. For his career, Yates has completed about 61% of his passes for 949 yards with three touchdowns and six interceptions over three seasons in Houston, offers a little bit of mobility and is still just 27 years old. We welcome him to Atlanta.

Worth noting that reader FernandoRebolledo was talking about Yates just yesterday, as well.

Akeem Dent, meanwhile, was competing in a crowded but inexperienced linebacking corps. Joplo Bartu, Paul Worrilow, Marquis Spruill and Prince Shembo are all working inside, Dent had fallen out of favor in 2013 and they clearly planned to sign Dobbins. Add that up and you have an expendable player, one the Falcons could use to pick up a backup quarterback they liked. Win-win, I suppose, but I wish Dent well.

Dobbins is a useful special teamer and classic thumper at inside linebacker, a role he played in parts of several seasons with the Texans. He'll be competing for a backup gig inside and probably will be able to beat out at least one of Spruill or Yawin Smallwood, if not both. At worst, he's a useful camp body.

Thoughts on these moves?

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