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Unbelievably, the Falcons need to cut down to 53 players by Saturday at 4 p.m. I say unbelievably because as interminable as this offseason has felt, training camp flew by, and it still seems impossible that the regular season is right around the corner.
To get down to the roster limit, the Falcons will have to cut at least 27 players. Of those, 16 could return later this weekend to join the team’s practice squad, assuming they clear waivers. I’d fully expect Atlanta to pick up a couple of outside players, though, so practically speaking you’ll see 10-14 of those players coming back.
It’s going to be a tough year for those cutdowns, I’m sure, given that the team has had zero actual game action to use to evaluate these players. What Atlanta will try to do is balance their need for veteran, versatile depth with the need to keep affordable, promising players who may be key Falcons in 2021 and beyond, when the cap crunch arrives with a vise-like vengeance. If Atlanta can field a playoff-caliber team this year—I’d settle for a Super Bowl win!—and position themselves well for next season, they’ll have nailed it. Obviously, easier said than done.
We’ll track moves here unless the Falcons dump all of them at once, in which case look for a writeup elsewhere on the site. Here we go!
Tracker
Check for updates throughout the day today and tomorrow.
Lauletta is the first new edition on Saturday morning. We wondered aloud whether he was being signed to supplant Kurt Benkert or to potentially snag a practice squad spot, and thankfully it appears to be the latter. Now we just have to see whether Benkert is on the practice squad or the active roster.
The first three are not exactly surprising, though we’d expect Allieu and Daniel to get real consideration to return to the practice squad. Wilcox is surprising because the Falcons seemingly loved him last year and re-signed him, but maybe he’ll get one of the veteran spots on the practice squad.