NFL rosters are all constructed a little bit differently, but there are some baseline levels that make sense for pretty much every team.
Right now, the Atlanta Falcons are running dangerously low on one of those baselines.
The Falcons only have three healthy running backs in their building, and only two of those are active roster players.
Bijan Robinson is the superstar, and he rightfully demands most of the workload.
Brian Robinson Jr. is the veteran backup, pictured above, who is a reliable back when called upon.
And then on the practice squad there’s Cash Jones, an undrafted player from Georgia.
That’s it.
Most NFL teams have three RBs on the active roster, but not the Falcons.
A bunch of NFL teams have two RBs on the practice squad, too, but that changed for Atlanta on Tuesday.
The big switch: Tyler Goodson got signed directly off the Falcons’ practice squad to go to the Dallas Cowboys’ 53-man roster.
Now, the Falcons are left in a tough spot.
What’s Next for Falcons?
Clearly, the Falcons need to sign a running back, and that’s a pretty standard in-season process in the NFL.
In a standard week — which Week 2 is for the Falcons since they play on Sunday — teams will host players for workouts on Tuesday. The workouts can happen later in the week, but Tuesday is the most logical.
That allows them to get a player signed and through a mostly full week of practice with the new team.
In this case, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Falcons bring three or four different RBs to the facility early this week to see who they might want to sign.
Then there are two possible paths to a signing — either directly to the 53-man roster, or first to the practice squad. That decision would likely depend most on who the specific player is.
The Falcons could also opt to sign a player off another team’s practice squad, like the reverse of the Goodson move, or could even try to negotiate a trade.
But a workout and signing is the simplest possibility this week.
NFL Free Agent RBs
There are some reliable RBs still available, but varying degrees of potential retirement or injury recovery make the waters a bit murky.
Guys like Joe Mixon, Austin Ekeler, Antonio Gibson and Nick Chubb all don’t have teams — but are they in position to run right now? Maybe not.
Dare Ogunbowale and Travis Homer are both multi-purpose backs that are available.
The likes of De’Ernest Johnson, DeeJay Dallas, Trayveon Williams, Michael Carter, Samir White and Dameon Pierce are also options on the open market.
Other names include Jaret Patterson, Craig Reynolds, Pierre Strong and even Cam Akers.
None are incredibly exciting, but the Falcons ought to consider signing someone, because the depth is quite thin right now.
Falcons’ Next Roster Move is Obvious