The News, Now
Key developments on the field and roster move analysis
There was no shortage of news to cover this week. The Falcons set their initial roster on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET and their practice squad over the course of Wednesday and Thursday as players cleared waivers, but those rosters didn’t stay the same for long, mainly with the additions of key offensive tackle depth pieces.
Atlanta sent a conditional 2027 seventh-round draft pick to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for Michael Jerrell. They then added a duo of offensive tackles to their practice squad.
Meanwhile, more injury news came to light as the Falcons made the bulk of their roster decisions. For starters, starting right tackle Kaleb McGary was placed on injured reserve prior to cuts being made Tuesday. This means he is done for the 2025 season.
The Falcons later placed edge rusher Bralen Trice on injured reserve as well. However, Trice was placed on IR after cuts were made, which means he could return in 2025. Head coach Raheem Morris said Thursday, though, that the team is still waiting for more clarity as it relates to Trice’s return-to-play timeline.
As Morris explained, Trice injured the same knee that kept him off the field for the entirety of his rookie campaign in 2024. Morris said the best-case scenario for Trice is that he would return after the bye week, but that a procedure on the knee is likely incoming. More information on his status will be known thereafter.
As for the plan at right tackle, Morris detailed the options the Falcons have. Despite the team picking up those few new faces we mentioned above at tackle, Morris said it would “be hard” for those individuals to usurp players who spent training camp in Atlanta. Mainly, Elijah Wilkinson who the team is penciling in as the frontrunner right now.
“Those guys will be competing for the right now of being able to go out there and play right tackle for us and having those guys out there getting ready to go, giving those guys the best opportunity to mesh and move forward to go get a win versus Tampa,” Morris said. “… I got a lot of confidence in those guys that were here (for the preseason).”
In other starting lineup news, Morris also said both Xavier Watts and Billy Bowman Jr. will start at safety and nickel come the Falcons’ Week 1 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
To round out the week’s slate of news, Tori McElhaney took to the Falcons Mailbag to answer fans’ questions about all the moves that were made this week.