The Atlanta Falcons were quiet on Tuesday’s NFL Trade Deadline. They watched pass rushers Montez Sweat and Chase Young move to the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers respectively.
However they did make a move of their own on Tuesday by signing defensive tackle Travis Bell from the Bears’ practice squad. Tom Pelissero was first with the news on TwiX.
“The #Falcons are signing DT Travis Bell off the #Bears practice squad, per source,” wrote Pelissero on TwiX. “The Kennesaw State product is returning to Atlanta and joining the 53-man roster.”
The Falcons made a habit of claiming former Bears in Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot’s first two seasons. Players like Cordarrelle Patterson, Damiere Byrd, and Abdullah Anderson spent time in Chicago before heading to Atlanta.
Because he was signed from the Bears’ practice squad, by rule, Bell was added to the Falcons’ 53-man active roster.
The Bears drafted Bell from Kennesaw State in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He was the first former Owl to be selected in the NFL Draft.
NFL.com Analyst Lance Zierlein had this to say about Bell coming out of Kennesaw State:
Bell is an interior defender with decent lateral quickness and power at the point of attack. He lacks the overall mass and anchor to eat up blocks inside, though. He has enough foot quickness and hand usage to work his way around blockers but might find his success rate plummet against NFL-caliber competition. Bell has traits to get a look as a one-gapping, even-front nose tackle but might need to fight for a spot as an undrafted free agent. — Lance Zierlein, NFL.com
Bell and the Atlanta Falcons must rebound from a road loss to the Tennessee Titans. They get their first chance on Sunday at home against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings lost starting-quarterback Kirk Cousins to a season-ending injury last week. According to ESPN the betting line jumped from the Falcons -3.5 to the Falcons -5.0 points after the news.
