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The free agency window is open, and the rumor mill is swirling. The Falcons made their first move in free agency yesterday, signing potential starting guard Brandon Fusco. Today, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo has reported that the Falcons (as well as the New England Patriots) have contacted RB Danny Woodhead.
Patriots and Falcons showed some hustle and grit in contacting RB Danny Woodhead recently, source says. We'll see if he and his lunch pail head to either place deceptively quickly to pay a visit.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 15, 2018
Woodhead is a running back who has long been lauded for his receiving skills, and who has used those skills to carve out a niche in the NFL. This next season will be his 10th in the NFL, after going undrafted out of division two Chadron State.
Woodhead is a reliable player when he’s on the field, but his durability has been an issue the past few years: he missed eight games last season, 14 games in 2016 and 13 games in 2014. However, because of these injuries, and the fact that he’s now 33 years old, he should fall within Atlanta’s price range.
If the Falcons were to sign Woodhead, he would more than likely be the team’s primary receiving back as there are few RBs in the NFL who can go toe to toe with him when it comes to catching the football. As a result, we would expect to see him on the field for a good number of third downs, both coming out of the backfield and in the slot. He would be another dangerous weapon for Matt Ryan to utilize.
We’ve seen Woodhead do great things in his backup role when healthy. His best season in 2015, with the San Diego Chargers, saw him total 80 reception, 1,091 yards from scrimmage and nine total touchdowns.