Yesterday, the Atlanta Falcons made a series of moves that included a few surprises, cutting ties with a buzzworthy undrafted free agent and a roster stalwart while adding new faces.
Per the team, the Falcons have signed:
- OL Layden Robinson, as we noted yesterday
- OL Brandon Walton
- DT Ross Blacklock
- LB Daveren Rayner
To open up room, they’ve cut:
- RB Carlos Washington, a longtime practice squad player
- WR Deven Thompkins, who briefly handled returns last year
- TE Brandon Frazier, who was a highly-regarded blocking option out of this year’s UDFA crop
- DT Ben Stille
I won’t write about Robinson because we had a separate story, but the other additions are also interesting.
Walton has played reasonably well in 19 games and two starts spread out over four years with Tampa Bay and Carolina. He’s chiefly appeared at left tackle in his career, with 215 snaps there in 2022 with Tampa Bay, but has also logged some time at both guard spots and graded out reasonably well during his time with the Buccaneers. The versatility gives him a chance to stick.
Blacklock is a player I thought the Falcons might pick up in years past, as he has a little pass rush juice that might have intrigued the pressure-needy Atlanta teams of yesteryear. Blacklock last appeared in an NFL regular season game in 2023 and has never graded out as an asset against the run, but he’ll push for a practice squad spot as a late down interior presence if he can impress this summer.
Rayner is an undrafted free agent out of Kentucky who has the length (6’3”), production, and athleticism Jeff Ulbrich looks for in his linebackers. It’s not crazy to think that Rayner could compete with players like JD Bertrand, Malik Verdon, and even rookie Harold Perkins Jr. for a roster spot and special teams snaps in year one, but there are enough options here that he’ll really need to show out to stick.
For the releases, Washington has been a physical runner who has fared well in the summer the past few seasons, turning that into a spot on the practice squad for the Falcons over that span. His release clears up the picture at running back a bit, where Tyler Goodson, Cash Jones, and Nate Carter are now competing for RB3 duties. Thompkins fared well enough as a returner to think he might have a real shot to stick around, but the Falcons will turn to other options there. Stille was an extreme roster longshot who probably has a better chance somewhere else where the interior defense line depth is thinner.
Finally, Frazier is a bit of a surprise. The Falcons gave him a nice little deal for an undrafted player, and his blocking chops in college figured to give him an outside shot to compete for TE3/TE4 duties on this depth chart. With his release, Charlier Woerner now only has to fend off UDFA Jack Velling and former UDFA Josh Simon to make this roster.
Give the new guys a warm welcome and wish the departing Falcons well.
