It’s a surprising move after the first day of camp.
The Atlanta Falcons have one day of training camp in the books, but the roster moves are already rolling in. After placing Troy Andersen on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list earlier today, they’ve announced they’re cutting one player and placing three more on the Non-Football Injury list.
The cut is a surprising one. Per Falcons beat reporter Terrin Waack, they’re cutting Kevin King, the veteran cornerback who returned from years lost to injury and COVID and turned in a quality campaign as a reserve and special teamer. Waack noted earlier in the day that she did not see King at practice, making a surprising cut a little bit of a fuzzier situation, but the team may simply have felt their cornerback depth was sufficient to move on. Former practice squad corner Lamar Jackson was working with the starters today, while former undrafted free agent Natrone Brooks was working with the second team at times at nickel. If Jackson impresses and Brooks is in the team’s plans, there may not have been room for King, but it’s still curious given that he was a genuine asset for a team that needed veteran depth at year ago.
The three players hitting NFI are two undrafted free agents and one veteran. The veteran is LaCale London, a promising run stopper on the defensive interior who dealt with injuries a year ago and is now dealing with one again. He’s a strong candidate for a practice squad spot at minimum if he can get healthy quickly. The two UDFAs are cornerback Cobee Bryant and safety-turned-linebacker Malik Verdon, both of whom figured to push for practice squad spots themselves. Bryant is an aggressive, promising corner and Verdon offers intriguing physicality at linebacker, but we’ll have to wait at least a little while to see them on the practice field.
The three players on NFI, like Andersen, will still count against the 90 man roster. That means the Falcons are down a few roster players with no roster spot relief for the immediate future, so the hope will be that all these guys return quickly. We’ll also have to keep an eye out for the inevitable signing to replace King on the roster, and we wish him well wherever he lands next.