Falcons sign Sean Harlow, Kurt Benkert and seven others to reserve/future deals

It got lost in the shuffle yesterday with all the coaching changes, but the Falcons signed nine players to reserve/future deals, which will keep practice squad players around for at least the beginning of the offseason program in Atlanta.

Every name on here should be familiar to anyone who has been keeping tabs on the practice squad, but in case you missed the list, here it is:

• QB Kurt Benkert
• WR Devin Gray
• WR Christian Blake
• TE Jaeden Graham
• TE Alex Gray
• G Sean Harlow
• DT/DE Jacob Tuioti-Mariner
• CB Taveze Calhoun

Guessing who might make it through to the practice squad again, or even the roster, is probably a bit of a fool’s errand this early. That said, there are guys on here who have been hanging around a while and/or fill potential positions of need for the Falcons heading into 2019.

I’d expect Benkert to compete for the backup quarterback job, with either Matt Schaub or an addition from the draft. I’d definitely expect Alex Gray and Jaeden Graham to compete for the third tight end gig, with Gray having an early edge because he’s spent two years marinating on the practice squad at this point and tweeted that he signed a two year deal with Atlanta. And Harlow and Tuioti-Mariner both should have opportunities to hook on to the back end of the guard and defensive tackle depth charts, given the lack of depth currently lined up for both spots.

But that’s all well in the future. For the moment, congratulations to all nine of these guys, and we’ll see them in the spring and summer.