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Report: Falcons interested in former Cleveland Browns WR/KR Travis Benjamin

Fact: Travis Benjamin invented polkadots

Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Falcons badly need an infusion of youth and talent on both sides of the ball. At this point we've covered their needs ad nauseum. One pressing need is receiving depth. (I'll again refer everyone to torgo3000's fantastic article explaining how the Falcons effectively killed their WR depth.) With over $30 million in likely cap space, the Falcons have the cheddar to go out and sign a receiver. It appears former Cleveland Browns WR Travis Benjamin may be that guy.

Benjamin would immediately make the receiving corps significantly better. He's also a capable returner. In 2015, he amassed 966 receiving yards and 5 receiving touchdowns. He's also a capable deep threat. (Benjamin had 6 receptions over 40 yards, 4th most in the NFL.) He averaged 11.6 yards/punt return as well.

This will come down to money. Let's crunch the numbers. First, the Falcons can't afford to overspend on a WR2. That said, signing Benjamin would let them cut Devin Hester, saving $3 million in 2016 cap space. The team is also still non-committal about Roddy White's future. (Cutting White would free up an additional $2.4 million in 2016 cap space.) If they can't sign Benjamin for between $5-6 million, then they shouldn't sign him at all.

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