HEADLINES

Brian Hill

Cardinals Sign RB Ito Smith

August 8th, 2021 at 4:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

A second member of the Falcons’ 2020 running back trio has found a home. The Cardinals agreed to a deal with Ito Smith, whom the Falcons waived in April.

Smith joins Brian Hill in securing a landing spot, with Hill catching on with the Titans in May. Todd Gurley remains a free agent. Smith will join a team transitioning in the backfield. A year after trading David Johnson to the Texans, the Cardinals allowed Kenyan Drake to defect to the Raiders in free agency.

Arizona has Chase Edmonds and James Conner in place as its top running backs. The team appears set to give each considerable work this year. With Conner having struggled with injuries throughout his career, Smith profiles as veteran insurance.

A 2018 fourth-round pick out of Southern Miss, Smith has accumulated just 175 career carries. Sixty-three of those came in 2020, when the Falcons diminished Gurley’s workload down the stretch. Smith averaged 4.3 yards per carry last season, totaling 268 rushing yards and a touchdown. He has six career TDs, with four of those coming as a rookie — a season that featured Devonta Freeman barely see the field due to injury. Smith finished his college career with back-to-back 1,400-yard rushing seasons.

Arizona waived running back Khalfani Muhammad and safety Lorenzo Burns as well. Burns spent most of the past two weeks on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list.

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/6/21

May 6th, 2021 at 3:52pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: WR Juwan Green

Indianapolis Colts

  • Waived: CB Will Sunderland

Las Vegas Raiders

  • Signed: G Marquel Harrell

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Claimed (from Cowboys): DB Kemon Hall

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

  • Claimed (from Cowboys): CB Saivion Smith
  • Signed: TE Nick Guggemos

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Claimed (from Cowboys): LB Ladarius Hamilton
  • Signed: CB Nate Brooks

Tennessee Titans

Falcons’ Brian Hill Signs RFA Tender

April 19th, 2020 at 11:46am CST by Rory Parks

Falcons running back Brian Hill has signed his RFA tender, as D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. With that, Hill will return to the Falcons on a $2.13MM salary in 2020.

Atlanta originally selected Hill in the fifth round of the 2017 draft. He was waived by the team in October of that year and was signed to the practice squad, but the Bengals plucked him off the practice squad a month later. He ultimately appeared in six games for Cincinnati but was waived prior to the start of the 2018 season. The Falcons, who never really wanted to let him go in the first place, brought him back to their practice squad shortly thereafter.

Hill got just 20 carries in 2018 but saw that number increase to 78 in 2019, as he became the primary backup to Devonta Freeman after Ito Smith succumbed to injury. Freeman was released last month, and while the club brought in Todd Gurley to replace him, Gurley’s own medical history doesn’t inspire a great deal of confidence.

Hill, who has posted a very good 4.7 yards-per-carry average across an admittedly small sample size of 109 career totes, will have a good chance to be Gurley’s primary backup, and he could get even more burn if Gurley cannot shake his injury woes. The Falcons may very well select another RB in this week’s draft, but Hill will be in the mix.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/17/20

March 17th, 2020 at 6:24pm CST by Zachary Links

Tuesday’s restricted free agent and exclusive rights free agent tender decisions will be posted below. Deals will be updated throughout the day.

RFAs

Tendered at second-round level: 

Tendered at original-round level:

ERFAs

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/3/18

September 3rd, 2018 at 7:15pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:

Atlanta Falcons

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

  • Signed: DE Christian LaCouture

Chicago Bears

Signed:

Cleveland Browns

Signed:

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Signed:

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Jets

Signed:

New York Giants

Oakland Raiders

San Francisco 49ers

  • Signed: OL Zack Golditch

Seattle Seahawks

Signed:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Signed:

Tennessee Titans

Bengals Trim Roster To 53

September 1st, 2018 at 1:52pm CST by Sam Robinson

For the time being at least, Michael Johnson will not be part of the Bengals’ 53-man roster. The longtime starting defensive end does not appear among Cincinnati’s regular-season contingent, signalling a changing of the guard opposite Carlos Dunlap.

While Johnson could well return, with Cincinnati.com’s Paul Dehner Jr. tweeting this is a possibility because of the team trying to protect as many young players from the waiver wire as possible, he’s again off the roster. Johnson spent a year with the Buccaneers in 2014 but returned to Cincinnati a year later.

He’s been a Bengals starter in five of the past six seasons, but third-round selections of Jordan Willis and Carl Lawson last year — along with 2018 third-rounder Sam Hubbard — made the 31-year-old talent a less important commodity. Johnson registered five sacks last season and has 44 in his career.

As for the rest of the Bengals’ cuts, here are the other players who aren’t on the 53-man roster.

Released as vested veterans:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

The placement of Barkley on IR and the waiving of Woodside leaves Jeff Driskel as the Bengals’ only Andy Dalton backup. It would be logical if the Bengals examined the waiver wire this weekend for a possible signal-caller addition.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/14/17

November 14th, 2017 at 7:21pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Redskins

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 10/16/17

October 16th, 2017 at 5:53pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s practice squad updates:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Signed: DL Peli Anau

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Jacksonville Jaguars

  • Signed: DB Charlie Miller

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Released: LeShun Daniels

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Redskins

Falcons Waive RB Brian Hill

October 14th, 2017 at 11:33am CST by Ben Levine

With receiver Mohamed Sanu set to miss tomorrow’s matchup against the Dolphins, the Falcons have made a roster change. ESPN’s Vaughn McClure reports that the team has promoted wideout Marvin Hall from the practice squad. To make room on the roster, the team notably waived running back Brian Hill, who was a fifth-round pick in this past year’s draft.

Hill had a standout career during his time at Wyoming, especially during the 2016 campaign. He ultimately compiled 1,860 yards and 22 touchdowns on 349 carries, earning him a spot on the All-Mountain West’s first team. The running back garnered interest from multiple teams during the draft process, and he was ultimately selected in the fifth round by the Falcons. It was initially thought that the rookie could serve as a “power back” alternative to Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.

However, the 21-year-old struggled during the preseason, compiling only 41 rushing yards on 26 carries (1.6-yard average). He made a brief appearance during his team’s Week 4 loss to the Bills, but he’s yet to compile a single carry. Following his release, former undrafted rookie Terron Ward will presumably slide up to the team’s third running back spot.

Hall, 24, has bounced around the league since going undrafted out of Washington in 2016. Besides the Falcons, he’s had brief stints with the Raiders and Cardinals, but he’s yet to see the field for a regular season game. He’ll presumably slide beneath Andre Roberts and Nick Williams on the team’s wide receiver depth chart.

Falcons Sign Takkarist McKinley

May 11th, 2017 at 2:31pm CST by Zachary Links

The Falcons have now signed their entire 2017 draft class. First round defensive end Takkarist McKinley, third round linebacker Duke Riley, fifth round running back Brian Hill, and fifth round tight end Eric Saubert are all under contract, the team announced. Takkarist McKinley (featured)

The Falcons traded up to the Seahawks’ No. 26 pick during the first round in order to select McKinley, a former star at UCLA. McKinley went viral for his outpouring of emotions on the stage, but the Falcons believe that he’ll be known more for his play on the field before long. The 6’2″, 250 pound athlete has been widely praised for his high motor and his big wingspan should allow him to fend off blockers at the next level. In his senior year at UCLA, McKinley racked up 61 total tackles, 18 tackles for a loss, and ten sacks – all career highs.

Here’s the complete rundown of the Falcons’ draft class:

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