The Atlanta Falcons drafted a tight end and offensive lineman with two of their first three selections in the 2021 NFL Draft. The Falcons added more depth to those two positions this week.
Atlanta announced Thursday evening that it signed tight end Parker Hesse and offensive lineman Sam Jones.
Falcons new head coach Arthur Smith is familiar with Hesse, as the tight end spent the last two seasons on the Tennessee Titans practice squad. The Titans waived Hesse on Monday and then officially cut him a day later. He has yet to appear in an NFL regular season game.
Smith, who was on the Tennessee coaching staff from 2011-20, serving as offensive coordinator each of the last two seasons, deploys an offense that features multiple tight ends. The Falcons entered the offseason without much depth at the position, but with the addition of Hesse and Kyle Pitts in the first round, Atlanta now has six tight ends on the roster.
Hesse will compete with Jaeden Graham, Lee Smith and Ryan Becker for a roster spot behind Pitts and Hayden Hurst.
As for Jones, the Denver Broncos drafted him with the 183rd overall pick in the sixth round. He appeared in five games for the Broncos as a rookie and hasn’t played in an NFL regular season game since then. He spent the 2019 and 2020 seasons on the practice squads of the Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts, respectively.
The Colts waived Jones on Wednesday.
Entering minicamps, the Falcons depth chart at Ourlads.com lists Jones as third at center behind Matt Hennessy and Drew Dalman.
