The Falcons have re-signed 28-year old CB Brent Grimes to a 1-year deal.  Grimes played in all 16 games for the Falcons last year and he had 87 tackles, 5 interceptions, 23 passes defensed and 2 tackles for a loss.  Grimes has now played in 4 seasons for the Falcons and he has 199 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 12 interceptions, 42 passes defensed and 1 fumble recovery.  Grimes had by far his best year with the Falcons in 2010 and they are hoping he will repeat it in 2011.

The Falcons have re-signed 26-year old WR/PR/KR Eric Weems.  Weems played in all 16 games (4 starts) for the Falcons last year and he caught 6 passes for 61 yards (10.2 avg).  Weems’ worth to the team comes when he’s returning punts and kickoffs.  Weems returned 18 punts for 230 yards (12.8 avg) with 1 TD return and 40 kickoffs for 1,100 yards (27.5 avg) with 1 TD return.  Weems has now played in 39 games (4 starts) in his first four years with the Falcons and he has caught 13 passes for 115 yards (8.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He also has returned 45 punts for 500 yards (11.1 avg) with 1 TD return and 89 kickoffs for 2,333 yards (26.2 avg) with 1 TD return in his time with the Falcons.  This was a good move for the Falcons as Weems should give the offense frequent good starting field position in 2011.

The Falcons have signed 26-year old DE Ray Edwards to a 5-year, $30 million dollar deal.  Edwards played in 14 games for the Vikings last year and he had 37 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 8 sacks and he defensed 2 passes.  He has now played in 72 games in his first five years in the NFL and he has 182 tackles, 23 tackles for a loss, 29.5 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries and 11 passes defensed.  Edwards will give the Falcons a nice set of bookend DEs with John Abraham on the other side.  This was a great signing for the Falcons.

The Falcons have re-signed 29-year old OT Tyson Clabo to a 5-year, $25 million dollar contract. Clabo played in 16 games (all starts) for the Falcons last year.  He has now played in 69 games (all starts) in his first five years with the Falcons.  This was a good signing as it will keep QB Matt Ryan happy….and that’s important.

The Falcons have released 25-year old DE Jamaal Anderson.  Anderson played in all 16 games for the Falcons last year and he had 21 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble and he defensed 1 pass.  Anderson played in 60 games in his four years with the Falcons and he had 105 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and he defensed 9 passes.  Anderson never lived up to his draft status with the Falcons, so they decided to cut their losses.  They won’t miss him at all moving forward.

The Falcons have released 29-year old WR Michael Jenkins.  Jenkins played in 11 games (9 starts) for the Falcons last season and he caught 41 passes for 505 yards (12.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He played in 103 games (64 starts) in his first 7 years with the Falcons and he caught 276 passes for 3,512 yards (12.7 avg) with 20 TD grabs.  The addition of rookie Julio Jones on draft night essentially ended Jenkins’ career with the Falcons.  He will find a new team soon but the Falcons shouldn’t miss him too much.

The Falcons selected 22-year old DE Cliff Matthews with the 230th overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Matthews is 6’4″, 265 pounds and he runs a 4.85 40.  Matthews probably couldn’t handle playing outside linebacker, so the Falcons might be best served to try to get him to gain a few pounds.  Matthews plays all out, all of the time which has served him well in college ball and it should translate well in the pros.  He played in 14 games (all starts) at South Carolina last year and he had 44 tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss, 5.5 sacks, batted down 1 ball and he forced 4 fumbles.  Matthews played in 51 games (47 starts) in his four years with the Gamecocks and he had 149 tackles, 26 tackles for a loss, 15.5 sacks, batted down 5 balls and he forced 7 fumbles.  The Falcons caught another player who slid in the draft as many draft experts had Matthews getting picked in the 4th or 5th round.

The Falcons used the 210th overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft on 22-year old OG Andrew Jackson out of Fresno State.  Jackson is 6’5″, 302 pounds and he’s pretty strong and nasty.  He dropped so far in the draft because of a high ankle sprain that cause him to miss quite a bit of his senior year.  He played in 4 games (all starts) last year for Fresno State and he played in 40 games (39 starts) in his four years with them.  This was a solid pick for the Falcons this late as Jackson can handle guard and center.

The Falcons took punter Matt Bosher out of Miami (FL) with the 192nd overall pick (6th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Bosher is 6’0″, 208 pounds and he’s very versatile as he also was a placekicker who also handled kickoffs.  Bosher punted the ball 59 times last year for the Hurricanes for 2,596 yards (44.0 avg) and he pinned the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 19 times (32.2%).  He played four years with the Canes in which he punted the ball 234 times for 9,756 yards (41.7 avg) with 70 punts being downed inside the opposing 20-yard line (29.9%).  Bosher was a good pick for the Falcons as he can replace Michael Koenen who is getting a tad overpriced  for his production.

The Falcons picked 21-year old RB Jacquizz Rodgers out of Oregon State with the 145th overall pick (5th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Rodgers is on the small side at 5’7″, 190 pounds and he runs a 4.45 40.  Rodgers makes a lot of good moves and he is a excellent receiver out of the backfield.  He projects to be a third down back because he can’t take the beating of a lot of carries at the NFL level and he doesn’t do his best running between the tackles.  Rodgers played in 12 games (all starts) for Oregon State last year and he carried the ball 256 times for 1,184 yards (4.6 ypc) with 14 TD runs.  He also caught 44 passes for 287 yards (6.5 avg) with 3 TD grabs last year.  Rodgers played in 36 games (35 starts) in his three years with the Beavers and he carried the ball 788 times for 3,877 yards (4.9 ypc) with 46 TD runs.  He also caught 151 passes for 1,056 yards (7.0 avg) with 5 TD grabs at Oregon State.  This was a good pick for the Falcons as Rodgers might be the backup to Michael Turner as soon as 2011.