The Atlanta Falcons made five roster moves on Tuesday in order to meet the NFL-mandated roster limit of 80.
Wide receivers Geronimo Allison and Auden Tate were joined by defensive back Lafayette Pitts and linebacker Kuony Deng among the Falcons cuts. Defensive lineman Jalen Dalton was waived with an injury designation.
The Falcons quarterbacks and wide receivers had a strong outing against the New York Jets in Monday night’s 24-16 loss, but Allison and Tate were not among the 11 players who caught passes.
Allison was targeted once on 18 snaps, but Tate didn’t log a play according to Pro Football Focus (PFF).
Pitts got an extended look on Monday with 29 snaps, but he and Deng were the two lowest graded defenders for the Falcons according to PFF at 36.0 and 29.1 respectively.
The Falcons still have 10 wide receivers on the roster, and the big cuts come next Tuesday as teams must go from 80 players down to 53.
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With Tate and Allison cut, it improves the chances of a player like Jared Bernhardt making the active roster. Bernhardt is an interesting story as he was a lacrosse standout before leading Ferris State to a national championship at quarterback.
An interesting story may get a player a workout, but Bernhardt has earned the right to still be with the Falcons. He led the team in receiving against the Jets with three catches for 67 yards and has been a standout on special teams.
The Falcons are next in action on Saturday against the Jacksonville Jaguars at 3:00 p.m. EST. Atlanta played a lot of their potential starters on Monday night against the Jets, so we’ll see if head coach Arthur Smith decides to give an extended look to the players further down the roster who struggled in the second half on Monday.
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