The Falcons claimed offensive guard Jaeden Roberts off waivers, the team announced Tuesday.
The Eagles waived Roberts on Monday.
Roberts spent four seasons at the University of Alabama but went undrafted in the 2026 draft. He signed with the Eagles as a college free agent in May.
Roberts started 37 career games in four collegiate seasons, including 2023 when current Falcons offensive coordinator Tommy Rees was his offensive coordinator at Alabama.
In the past week, the Falcons have cut inside linebacker Troy Andersen, signed defensive end Cameron Sample and running back Trey Sermon, activated right tackle Jawaan Taylor off the active/PUP list, signed tight end Nick Muse and waived wide receiver Le’Meke Brockington and linebacker Malik Verdon with injury designations.
Falcons Clips
The Falcons have added a tight end.
Atlanta announced on Tuesday morning that the club has signed Nick Muse.
Muse, 27, has appeared in 16 career games since Minnesota selected him in the seventh round of the 2022 draft. He has also spent time with the Eagles, Cardinals, Rams, Jets, and Lions.
He had joined Detroit earlier this month but was released after just a few days with the club.
Additionally, the Falcons have waived/injured receiver Le’Meke Brockington and linebacker Malik Verdon.
The Falcons signed Bijan Robinson to a contract extension last week and they added a running back to compete for playing time behind him on Monday.
They announced the signing of Trey Sermon to the 90-man roster. They cut a pair of players earlier in the day and had an open spot available for Sermon.
Sermon was a 2021 third-round pick of the 49ers and was claimed off of waivers by the Eagles after cutdown day in 2022. He spent the next two seasons with the Colts and moved on to the Steelers last year.
Sermon has 91 carries for 319 yards and two touchdowns in 46 career games. He’s also caught 22 passes for 138 yards.
Brian Robinson, Tyler Goodson, Nathan Carter, and Cash Jones are the other backs looking for spots on the Falcons’ 53-man roster.
Jawaan Taylor is set to start practicing at Falcons training camp.
The veteran offensive tackle was placed on the physically unable to perform list last month and the team announced he has been activated from it on Monday.
“He obviously hasn’t been in there yet, but has been extremely dialed in in meetings as he gets his body ready,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said, via the team’s website. “I’m very confident in how he’s prepared to date.”
The Falcons signed Taylor after right tackle Kaleb McGary retired this offseason and was installed as the favorite to take over the job.
In addition to the Taylor news, the Falcons announced the signing of defensive end Cam Sample and that they have waived long snapper Phil Florenzo and offensive lineman Jack Nelson.
The Falcons are bringing in some depth along their defensive line.
Per Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Atlanta has agreed to sign edge rusher Cameron Sample.
Sample, 26, was a Bengals fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft. He appeared in 61 games with five starts for Cincinnati over five seasons, missing 2024 due to a torn Achilles.
In 2025, he registered 2.0 sacks with two tackles for loss and six quarterback hits in 14 games.
Sample had signed with the 49ers in April, but was released last week.
The Cardinals signed tight end Shawn Bowman and linebacker Eugene Asante on Sunday, the team announced.
Bowman most recently played for the Orlando Storm in the UFL. He appeared in 11 games this spring and caught seven passes for 53 yards.
He entered the NFL in 2024 with Jacksonville as an undrafted rookie free agent from Rutgers. Bowman spent his rookie season on the Jaguars’ practice squad.
While in college, Bowman appeared in 44 games at Rutgers (2023) and Maine (2019-22) and made 90 receptions for 984 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Asante spent this spring with the Houston Gamblers of the UFL and appeared in nine games. He totaled 34 tackles, four tackles for loss, two passes defensed and two forced fumbles.
He entered the NFL as an undrafted rookie free agent from Auburn in 2025, signing with the Dolphins. Asante spent his rookie season on the Dolphins, Browns and Falcons practice squads.
During his six-year collegiate career at Auburn (2022-24) and North Carolina (2019-21), he saw action in 65 games. Asante totaled 196 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, two pass breakups, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble.
Asante was third-team All-SEC in consecutive seasons (2023-24).
A week of bank-breaking running back contracts was capped by Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs breaking the bank by the biggest margin.
Gibbs, now the highest-paid running back in the league, signed his new contract on Friday.
Here are the full and complete details, per a source with knowledge of the terms:
1. Signing bonus: $15 million.
2. 2026 90-man roster bonus: $2.038 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2026 base salary: $1.145 million, fully guaranteed.
4. 2027 option bonus: $10.033 million, fully guaranteed.
5. 2027 base salary: $1.26 million, fully guaranteed.
6. 2028 offseason workout bonus: $250,000, fully guaranteed but must be earned.
7. 2028 base salary: $10.25 million, fully guaranteed.
(The full 2028 compensation package is guaranteed for injury at signing. Of that amount, $8.25 million is fully guaranteed. The remaining $2.25 million becomes fully guaranteed in March 2027.)
8. 2029 offseason workout bonus: $250,000.
9. 2029 base salary: $22.25 million, $11.5 million of which is guaranteed for injury at signing. Of that amount, $8 million becomes fully guaranteed in March 2028. The remaining $3.5 million becomes fully guaranteed in March 2029.
10. 2030 offseason roster bonus: $1 million.
11. 2030 offseason workout bonus: $250,000.
12. 2030 base salary: $21.25 million.
The contract also includes $4.125 million in available escalators for 2029 and 2030 each. For 2029, Gibbs gets $562,500 for each year from 2026 through 2028 in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards. He gets another $562,500 for each year in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards and the team gets to the divisional round of the postseason.
For 2030, Gibbs gets $421,875 for each year from 2026 through 2029 in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards. He gets another $421,875 for each year in which he generates 800 or more receiving yards and the team gets to the divisional round of the postseason.
Gibbs also gets $750,000 in each year for winning the MVP award a single time.
If the escalator package sounds familiar, it should. It’s identical to the Bijan Robinson incentive package. In fact, the overall structure of the two deals is virtually identical.
It appears that the Lions and/or Gibbs took the Bijan deal and used it as the template for the Gibbs deal, with more total money for Gibbs.
The biggest difference is the amount. The Robinson new-money APY is $22.25 million, and the maximum value is $25 million. For Gibbs, the new-money APY is $22.5 million, with a maximum value of $25.25.
From signing, the Gibbs deal has a five-year average of $16.995 million. Robinson’s deal has a five-year average of $16.36 million.
That may not seem like much, but it works out to a difference of more than $3 million.
The Falcons announced the release of linebacker Troy Andersen on Friday morning.
Andersen was a second-round pick in 2022 after playing linebacker, running back and quarterback while at Montana State and he played in every game as a rookie. He only played two games in 2023 due to shoulder and pectoral injuries, however, and a 2024 knee injury wound up keeping him out for all of the 2025 season as well.
The injuries limited Andersen to 26 total games with the Falcons. He had 135 tackles, five tackles for loss, an interception return for a touchdown, a half-sack, and a forced fumble in those appearances.
The Falcons signed wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson to fill the open roster spot.
It’s clear that both Falcons running back Bijan Robinson and Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs wanted to get to $25 million in new-money APY on their new contracts. Both can do it, but only by reaching their full upside packages.
After the Falcons gave running back Bijan Robinson a deal with a value of $22.25 million per year, the Lions weren’t inclined to do much more. In the end, Gibbs got a slight bump over Robinson.
The problem with a hold-in is that it has to end at some point, because the season eventually starts. And both the team and the player need the player to be ready to go.
For Gibbs, who had more “old money,” the three-year, $67.5 million deal combines with his existing $17.476 million to create a five-year, $84.976 million contract. The per-year average from signing is $16.99 million. (Robinson’s five-year deal has an average of $16.36 million.)
We’ll have a full breakdown of the Gibbs terms. The Robinson terms are here.
The Falcons officially brought linebacker Jalon Walker’s season to an end on Thursday.
Walker was placed on injured reserve after tearing his ACL in practice this week. The 2025 first-round pick will have surgery and then spend the coming months working his way back to health for his third season.
The NFL’s daily transaction report shows that the Falcons filled the open roster spot by claiming defensive back Keidron Smith off of waivers. He was cut by the Jets on Wednesday.
Smith had 15 tackles in three games for the Jets last season. He had seven tackle in nine appearances for the Broncos in 2024.
