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The Falcons have released 32-year old LB Coy Wire. Wire played in 15 games for the Falcons last year and he had 12 tackles and 1 fumble recovery. He played in 47 games in his three years with the Falcons and he had 63 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 3 fumble recoveries and 2 passes defensed. The Falcons shouldn’t miss Wire at all as he is at the tail end of his NFL career.
The Falcons have released 28-year old DE Chauncey Davis. Davis played in all 16 games for the Falcons last year and he had 24 tackles, 1 sack, 5 tackles for a loss, 1 fumble recovery, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception (he returned it for a TD). Davis played in 96 games in his six years with the Falcons and he had 178 tackles, 10 sacks, 20 tackles for a loss, 8 fumble recoveries, 2 forced fumbles, 6 passes defensed and 2 interceptions (1 returned for a TD). Davis is probably going to get snapped up by another team as he is a dependable backup TE.
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 Atlanta Falcons have released 28-year old safety Erik Coleman. Coleman played in 12 games for the Falcons last season and he had 20 tackles. He played in 44 games in parts of three years with the Falcons and he had 231 tackles, 11 passes defensed, 4 forced fumbles and 3 interceptions. The Falcons phased Coleman out of the defense last season so they shouldn’t miss him too much going forward.
The Falcons have released 29-year old DT Thomas Johnson and 27-year old safety Matt Giordano. Johnson played in 13 games for the Falcons last season and he had 20 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 forced fumble. Giordano played in 5 games for the Packers last season and he made 2 tackles. This is a good sign for the Falcons’ D that they don’t think they need these guys.
35-year old Matt Bryant will battle 25-year old Steve Hauschka to see who will be the Falcons’ kicker in 2010. Matt Bryant will likely have a slight edge heading into training camp as he kicked for the Falcons some last year. Bryant played in 5 games for the Falcons last season and he was 7 of 10 (70%) on field goals and 10 of 10 on extra points to finish with 31 points. He has now played in 99 games in his NFL career and he has made 145 of 178 field goals (81.5%) and 191 of 195 extra points as he has scored 636 career points.
PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE FALCONS KICKERS in 2010: C
UPDATE: (8/16/2010) – The Falcons have released Steve Hauschka after he was 1 of 2 on field goals in the pre-season opener. Matt Bryant will be the starting kicker in 2010.