Atlanta

Falcons

The Falcons had previously waffled a bit on potentially making Pitts available after “President Of Football” Matt Ryan took over, but must have liked what they saw in the early offseason. Pitts currently looks to be slated for the No. 2 receiver role in Atlanta behind Drake London and should be a fantasy-viable TE1 this year. (Words that have never come back to bite anyone.) Pitts settles for slightly below George Kittle’s $19.1 million per year and Trey McBride’s $19 million per year and will remain in Atlanta for the near future.

The Atlanta depth chart at wideout is sparse even after we account for third-round pick Zachariah Branch in the draft. The No. 2 receiver right now might be Jahan Dotson. Olamide Zaccheaus is also in the picture. The Falcons still have $27 million in cap space but we’ve rarely heard them mentioned by national reporters as interested in the Stefon Diggs/Deebo Samuel/Keenan Allen best veteran free agent wideout tier. Those guys aren’t mentioned in this report either, but they do make plenty of sense from a roster standpoint.

Bowman suffered a torn Achilles in late November and is a potential PUP candidate. Darnay Holmes and second-rounder Avieon Terrell are candidates to fill the void if Bowman — who was having a marvelous rookie year before he got hurt — is unable to make it back before the start of the season.

Atlanta “appears to be waiting” on the league to decide how they want to punish Pearce. Cameron Sutton was suspended eight games in 2024 for a similar incident, which Kendall mentions and certainly could serve as a blueprint for how this plays out. Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski said they have not received any communication from the league on this subject. It certainly would be surprising if Pearce weren’t eventually suspended to some extent.

The Falcons designated Hayball as their exempt international player, so he does not count against the team’s 90-man roster limit. He played in all 17 games with the Saints as a rookie in 2024, averaging 44.0 yards per punt on 75 attempts. He did not play in 2025. Hayball will compete with veteran P Jake Bailey this year.

The “we’ll see” from Stefanski yesterday wound up being “no.” In other words, Falcons mandatory minicamp will be the Tua Tagovailoa show. Penix is a more realistic candidate to be ready to go in training camp. However, ceding these reps to Tagovailoa will probably put the veteran quarterback in the lead of their upcoming battle heading into camp. It feels likely that both quarterbacks will get a shot at some point, barring Tagovailoa turning back the clock a few years.

Pearce is in the middle of an ongoing legal situation stemming from a February arrest that resulted in him being charged with three felonies and one misdemeanor. The 22-year-old pass-rusher recently entered a pre-trial intervention program that can result in all charges being dismissed if he meets the conditions of the program, and the league is reportedly “closely monitoring all developments” with Pearce. We don’t yet know if the league plans to hand down a suspension to Pearce, but it wouldn’t be surprising if some disciplinary action was taken after everything is resolved in his case.

Penix participated in the Falcons’ OTAs last month and was splitting first-team reps with Tua Tagovailoa, but the third-year quarterback has not yet been cleared for 11-on-11 sessions. With the Falcons starting minicamp this week, we’ll soon have an answer on whether or not he’ll be cleared or be forced to wait until training camp to try and return to the field. Penix is nearly seven months removed from surgery to repair the partially torn ACL he suffered in Week 11 of last season, so it wouldn’t be surprising doctors said it was too early for him to return for 11-on-11’s. If he’s unable to go, Tagovailoa would get all of the reps with the first team offense, which could position him well ahead of the QB battle that’s expected to take place in training camp if Penix is healthy.

Thompkins will likely just contribute on special teams, if he makes the roster. Through four NFL seasons, he has returned 45 kicks and 42 punts. The Bills also waived RB Desmond Reid with an injury designation. He will probably revert back to the roster after passing through waivers. The Bills also waived CB Dorian Strong with a non-football injury designation. In February, GM Brandon Beane said Strong (neck) was “going to have a procedure that will determine whether he can play.” Unfortunately, this could be the answer.

Norton is still recovering from the ankle injury that sidelined him last year. By placing him on the reserve/PUP list, the Falcons do not have to count him on their 53-player roster. He must, however, miss the first four games of the season. He will be eligible to face the Ravens in Week 5.