The Atlanta Falcons surprised fans by releasing veteran long-snapper Josh Harris Wednesday night but fans were relieved when they re-signed him Thursday morning.
Harris, 32, has been with the Atlanta Falcons since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2012. Harris has seen action in 139 games while taking 1,178 career special-teams snaps and recording 21 tackles.
According to Falcons’ insider, D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the club needed to make this move in order to claim guard Colby Gossett off waivers and figured nobody would pick up Harris off the waivers overnight.
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Falcons Claim Ex-Cardinals Guard Off Waivers
With starting left guard Josh Andrews heading to the injured reserve, Atlanta added guard Colby Gossett from the Cleveland Browns on Wednesday.
Gossett, 26, was originally drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the sixth round of the 2018 draft and has been with the Vikings, Cardinals, Patriots and Browns.
He comes to Atlanta with some familiarity after having played with newly added quarterback Josen Rosen in 2018 with the Arizona Cardinals.
With Andrews out for some time, rookie Jaylen Mayfield is the next man up for the starting left guard spot but could have to battle with Gossett.
Falcons Have On Spot Left on Their Practice Squad
The Falcons have just one spot left on their practice squad after signing 15 of 16 players to the list this week. They ended up sticking with players who practiced with them through training camp.
OL Willie Beavers
OLB Quinton Bell
ILB Emmanuel Ellerbee
RB D’Onta Foreman
WR Juwan Green
RB Caleb Huntley
S Dwayne Johnson Jr
OL Sam Jones
OL Ryan Neuzil
OLB George Obinna
TE John Raine
DL Chris Slayton
WR Austin Trammell
TE David Wells
CB Chris Williamson
Who ends up in the 16th slot is unknown, but the Falcons currently have three quarterbacks listed on their active roster so we might see either Felipe Franks or Josh Rosen move down come Week 1.
And while the Falcons announced their 53-man roster on Tuesday’s deadline, head coach Arthur Smith made it clear that nothing is set in stone––that includes the practice squad.
“Well, the thing is, it’s the truth because of the way the schedule is now,” Smith told reporters. “You’ve got a whole week with all the different rules. You know, you get the 16-person practice squad, you get the 54 and 55th spot and there’s a lot of flexibility, and you have a whole week to kind of prepare. So, I think you’ll see a lot of roster manipulation the whole week from the league.”
“Everything’s fluid, nothing’s set in stone and we’ll monitor everything all week. Really nothing finalizes until we go into late next week before we get ready for Philly,” Smith added.
And as far as whether Franks or Rosen will be Matt Ryan’s backup, that is to be determined.
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Falcons Release and Re-Sign Durable Long Snapper