HEADLINES

Kurt Benkert

Falcons Bring Back QB Matt Simms

August 3rd, 2019 at 1:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

Matt Simms‘ most recent NFL stay occurred in 2017 Falcons training camp. He will resurface in Atlanta two years later, creating a three-Matt Falcons quarterback depth chart.

The Falcons signed Simms on Saturday. This comes after third-string quarterback Kurt Benkert suffered a toe injury — one NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport described as “major” (on Twitter) — in Thursday’s Hall of Fame Game.

Benkert, a 2018 UDFA, was vying for the backup job to Matt Ryan with veteran Matt Schaub. The latter made a late re-entrance Thursday after Benkert’s toe malady forced him to leave the Canton game. It appears Benkert will be out a while.

Simms has not thrown a pass in a regular-season game since the 2014 season, which he spent with the Jets. He will turn 31 in September. His most recent NFL connection came in a September 2018 workout with the 49ers. The son of Phil Simms, Matt Simms spent the summers of 2016 and ’17 with the Falcons and was on the 2016 NFC champions’ practice squad. He worked in both Kyle Shanahan and Steve Sarkisian‘s offenses and will now attempt to stick around in Dirk Koetter‘s.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 12/31/18

December 31st, 2018 at 9:31pm CST by Sam Robinson

New Year’s Eve marks the first day eliminated teams can sign players to reserve/futures contracts. Here is the first wave of those decisions:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Redskins

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC South

September 2nd, 2018 at 6:40pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC South teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Falcons, Panthers, Saints, and Buccaneers are noted below.

Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s NFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

Atlanta Falcons

Practice squad:

Carolina Panthers

Placed on injured reserve:

Signed:

Practice squad:

New Orleans Saints

Signed to practice squad:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Falcons Reduce Roster To 52

September 1st, 2018 at 10:40am CST by Ben Levine

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

May 1st, 2018 at 11:06am CST by Zachary Links

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.