The Falcons cut a longtime member of their offensive line Monday when they parted ways with tackle Sam Baker about four months after releasing another fixture up front in recent years.
That was guard Justin Blalock, who started 125 of the 128 regular season games that the team played from 2007-2014. Blalock drew a little interest in free agency, but never signed with a team and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports Monday that Blalock is no longer going to play football.
“I’d like to sincerely thank the Atlanta Falcons, all my teammates and especially the fans,” Blalock said in a statement posted on Twitter when he was released. “I’ve had an unbelievable 8 years and only wish I could have helped bring a championship to the ATL.”
With Evan Mathis reportedly drawing interest from at least six teams following his release from the Eagles, it’s a bit surprising that Blalock didn’t land a job somewhere unless no team was willing to make it financially worth his while to continue playing.
