Christian Blake

Falcons Reduce Roster To 52

The Falcons have trimmed down their roster. The team announced that they’ve reduced their roster to 52 players, meaning they’re leaving one spot open for a potential free agent addition.

We learned yesterday that the organization was moving on from defensive back Ron Parker and offensive lineman Austin Pasztor. The rest of the team’s moves are below:

Waived:

Waived/injured:

Falcons Sign 27 UDFAs

The Falcons have signed a whopping 27 undrafted free agents. Here is the full rundown:

Most NFL teams do not employ a fullback but the Falcons rostered one last year in Derrick Coleman, so McNitt and Marx may have a shot at making the team. At quarterback, there may be an opportunity for Benkert and Lamar Jordan to unseat Garrett Grayson as the third QB (assuming Jordan is being evaluated as a QB), though they are well set with Matt Schaub as the primary backup to Matt Ryan.

Benkert received a $60K guarantee to sign, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets, so it’s clear that the Falcons think highly of him. Benkert started his collegiate career at East Carolina before transferring to Virginia for the 2016 season. In two years as Virginia’s starter, he completed 57.7% of his passes with 46 touchdowns against 21 interceptions.

In other Falcons news, GM Thomas Dimitroff recently addressed speculation about the team’s relationship with star Julio Jones. The Falcons also triggered the fifth-year option for defensive end Vic Beasley recently.