Getty No. 19 Auden Tate of Atlanta Falcons.
The Atlanta Falcons made four more cuts on Tuesday, August 23 in order to get down to the league mandate of 80 players.
The players released included two wide receivers, Auden Tate and Geronimo Allison, along with defensive back Lafayette Pitts and outside linebacker Kuony Deng.
The team also waived defensive lineman Jalen Dalton with an injury after he was hurt in Atlanta’s preseason game vs. the Jets on Monday night.
Falcons cuts:
WR Auden Tate
WR Geronimo Allison
LB Kuony Deng
DB Lafayette Pitts
DL Jalen Dalton, who was hurt last night late, was waived with an injury designation.
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Allison & Tate Lose WR Battle
Allison and Tate each joined the Falcons as free agents this offseason and now they resort to looking for a new home.
Allison initially entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2016. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers where he played his way onto the active roster. In four seasons with the Packers, Allison started 15 games, made 89 receptions for 1,045 yards and six touchdowns.
As for Tate, he was originally a seventh-round selection (253rd overall) by the Bengals in the 2018 NFL Draft. His NFL career kicked off slowly as he totaled just four receptions for 35 yards as a rookie.
During A.J. Green’s absence in 2019, Tate’s production increased and remains his best season yet where he finished the year as Cincy’s second-leading receiver with 40 catches for 575 yards and a score. Unfortunately for Tate, he didn’t play much of a part in the Bengals’ Super Bowl appearance this past year as he was sidelined with a calf injury for most of the season. In fact, he has spent back-to-back seasons on the injured reserve list since 2019.
Through four NFL seasons thus far, Tate has totaled 799 receiving yards on 61 receptions, averaging 13.1 yards a catch and two touchdowns.
The Falcons’ wideout room is a bit more crowded than any other position on the Falcons roster, making it a lot harder to make it through final cuts.
Underdog WR Making a Name for Himself
Falcons rookie wideout, Jared Bernhardt, is currently en route to making the Falcons’ final roster after a solid debut in both of Atlanta’s preseason games against the Lions and Jets.
Bernhardt leaped to snag a catch from rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder for a pivotal touchdown on a fourth-and-nine play with just under two minutes left.
Ridder 🤝 Bernhardt
Stealing our hearts
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“It was Cover 1 man. We had a fade on the backside so I was looking at that,” Ridder said of the game-winning throw to Bernhardt after the game. “He kind of got beat up off the line so I kind of progressed off of it and came back and felt an edge so I rolled out to the right. At that point, you have to give someone a chance.”
Bernhardt was the underdog who got the chance that night.
He also got a chance against New York where he led the Falcons in receiving with 3 catches on 3 targets for 67 yards.
The Falcons have found a diamond in the rough with Jared Bernhardt 👏🏼
The Ferris State product comes to Atlanta with an intriguing background as he was a star lacrosse player at the University of Maryland before transferring to Ferris State to play quarterback.
The next round of cuts is on August 30 when teams hand in their 53-man rosters and if Bernhardt keeps it up through the Falcons’ final preseason game against Jacksonville, he may just find himself sitting comfortably on the active roster.
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