The Falcons have signed free agent running back Tyler Goodson, the team announced Thursday.
Goodson is a native of Suwanee, Georgia, who attended North Gwinnett High School, so he is returning to his home state to continue his professional career. He will join a backfield that features Bijan Robinson.
The Packers signed Goodson as an undrafted free agent in 2022 after he gained more than 3,000 scrimmage yards during his three-year career at the University of Iowa. He spent his rookie season on the Packers’ practice squad before joining the Colts in 2023.
Goodson has appeared in 33 games for the Colts the past three seasons with one start. He has gained 376 yards from scrimmage, including 264 on the ground, and has scored two touchdowns.
In 2025, Goodson played 35 offensive snaps and 130 on special teams in 11 games. He had 11 touches for 32 yards.
Falcons Clips
Tua Tagovailoa wouldn’t blame his departure from Miami on anyone but himself. He said he didn’t want “to get too much in depth with things that were going on.”
Instead, in his introductory news conference in Atlanta, the quarterback conceded his play didn’t live up to expectations.
“If you’re looking at last year, my play wasn’t up to the standard of the way I’ve been playing football in the past . . . three years since the new contract,” Tagovailoa said. “So, [I’ve] just got to play better football. That’s what that really means. There’s no other way to sugarcoat that or go around that.”
The Dolphins benched him last season after he threw a career-high 15 interceptions in 14 games, turning over the starting job to rookie Quinn Ewers. The team completely moved on earlier this month, releasing him despite taking on an NFL-record $99.2 million in dead cap money.
He signed a $1.3 million deal with the Falcons.
“Last year wasn’t the best year for me,” Tagovailoa said. “I’m looking for a fresh start, but fresh start in the sense of being able to compete, being able to go back out there and playing football, good football. And I think the best football is still ahead of me.”
The Falcons are doubling down on Robinsons in their offensive backfield for the 2026 season.
According to multiple reports, they are signing former Commanders and 49ers running back Brian Robinson. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports it is a one-year, $2.5 million deal.
Bijan Robinson is the starting running back in Atlanta, so the newcomer will be ticketed for the same kind of backup role he played behind Christian McCaffrey after the Commanders traded him to the Niners last year.
Robinson had 92 carries for 400 yards and two touchdowns in that role. He had 570 carries for 2,329 yards and 15 touchdowns in three seasons with Washington.
Tua Tagovailoa wouldn’t be on the Falcons right now if he’d played up to expectations in Miami the last couple of years, but that’s not new information for him.
Tagovailoa agreed to sign with Atlanta before he was officially released by the Dolphins and the quarterback spoke to reporters on Tuesday for the first time since agreeing to that deal. Tagovailoa acknowledged that his play failed to reach the standard he set for himself before the Dolphins opted to bench him for the final weeks of the regular season before adding that he appreciates the chance for a fresh start with the Falcons.
“I think the best football is ahead of me,” Tagovailoa said, via Tori Mcelhaney of the team’s website.
Atlanta drafted Michael Penix in the first round in 2024, so it’s not a sure thing that Tagovailoa will get a chance to show off his skills on the field. He said on Tuesday that he welcomes the chance to compete for playing time and to aid Penix in any way he can once they begin working together at practice. Penix’s health as he recovers from a torn ACL will be another part of the team’s quarterback choice, but Tagovailoa sounds ready for things to take any path for the 2026 season.
The Falcons are adding another quarterback to their roster.
Agent Blake Baratz told Jeremy Fowler of ESPN that his client Trevor Siemian has agreed to a contract with Atlanta. He will join Michael Penix and Tua Tagovailoa in the team’s quarterback room.
Siemian spent the last two seasons with the Titans and did not appear in any games while spending most of his time on the practice squad. He appeared in five games and made three starts for the Jets in 2023 and has also started games for the Bears, Saints and Broncos since entering the league as a 2015 seventh-round pick in Denver.
Penix is recovering from a torn ACL, which will limit his workload for some time and should leave a good number of reps for Siemian to handle once the Falcons get back on the field in the coming weeks.
The Giants are adding some depth for their defensive line.
Per Via Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, New York is signing Sam Roberts to a one-year deal.
Roberts, 27, appeared in five games for Atlanta in 2025, recording 18 total tackles, one tackle for loss, and his first career sack.
A Patriots sixth-round pick in 2022, Roberts has appeared in 20 games with two starts for New England, Carolina, and Atlanta.
The Falcons took a pair of edge rushers in the first round of last year’s draft and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich spent some time talking about one of them during Georgia’s Pro Day last week.
Jalon Walker played his college ball for the Bulldogs and played well enough for the Falcons to make him the 15th overall pick last year. Walker had 36 tackles, 5.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery as a rookie and Ulbrich said that he thinks the player will be even more productive in 2026.
“I’ll say this, the vision for him is so much clearer in Year 2,” Ulbrich told Bryce Koon of Glory Glory, via the Falcons website. “He’s going to make huge strides this year in every way — from a pass rush perspective, a pure end perspective. But then also we’re going to start to also utilize his versatility off the ball and all the stuff he can do.”
A leap forward for Walker would be even more significant for the Falcons in light of the situation with fellow 2025 first-rounder James Pearce. Pearce had 10.5 sacks as a rookie, but he faces multiple felony charges related to an incident with his former girlfriend and he may not be available for all of the coming season as the legal process plays out.
The Eagles are trading safety Sydney Brown to the Falcons for a swap of picks, according to multiple reports.
The teams swapped fourth- and sixth-round picks, with Philadelphia acquiring picks No. 114 and 197 and Atlanta receiving picks No. 122 and 215 in addition to Brown.
Brown is entering the final year of his contract with a $1.484 million base salary and a $1.829 million salary cap hit.
Brown, who turns 26 on Saturday, has played 42 games with nine starts in his three seasons. He has totaled 86 tackles, two interceptions, five passes defensed and two forced fumbles.
The Eagles made him a third-round pick in 2023.
In 2025, Brown played all 17 games with three starts, seeing action on 22 percent of the defensive snaps and 76 on special teams.
DeMarcco Hellams, who has played only 11 games the past three seasons due to injury, was the third safety for the Falcons before the trade.
The Dolphins are adding a punter.
Miami has agreed to terms with Bradley Pinion, according to a report from NFL Media.
Pinion, 31, spent the last four years with the Falcons. He averaged 45.1 yards per punt with a 40.6-yard net average in 2025 and 53.1 percent of his punts downed inside the 20-yard line.
Pinion has also served as a kickoff specialist, with his touchback rate at 24.4 percent in 2025.
A 49ers fifth-round pick in 2015, Pinion spent his first four seasons with San Francisco before heading to Tampa Bay in 2019. He then signed with the Falcons in the summer of 2022.
The Falcons have agreed to terms on a one-year deal, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
Holmes, 27, spent the past two seasons in Las Vegas.
He played 29 games but started only one for the Raiders, seeing action on 471 defensive snaps and 126 on special teams. Holmes totaled 49 tackles, a sack and three pass breakups in his time with the Raiders.
The Giants made Holmes a fourth-round pick in 2020.
He has appeared in 83 games with 12 starts in six NFL seasons, recording 164 tackles, four interceptions, 21 passes defended, two forced fumbles and 1.5 sacks.
Holmes has experience playing the nickel, providing the team with a backup plan if Billy Bowman Jr. doesn’t return from his Achilles injury before the start of the 2026 season.
