The Atlanta Falcons have signed outside linebacker James Vaughters to their practice squad, according to insider D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Vaughn’s signing marks the 16th and final spot on the team’s practice roster.
Vaughters, 28, originally signed with the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2015 out of Standford. However, he was soon released following an injury settlement.
More recently, he spent the last two seasons with the Chicago Bears. While in the Windy City, he bounced back and forth between the practice squad and the active roster. In 2020 he saw action in 14 games where he had 22 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
Vaughters also spent some time with the New England Patriots, LA Chargers and
in the CFL with the Calgary Stampeders.
He’s not the only Georgia native the Falcons signed this week as the team inked Wayne Gallman just yesterday who played at Grayson High School.
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Falcons 2021 Practice Squad
The Falcons had just one spot left on their practice squad before signing Vaughters and analysts assumed they would leave it open to move one of their three quarterbacks back down ahead of Weel 1.
But, that wasn’t the case. Below is the Falcons 16-man practice roster:
OL Willie Beavers
OLB Quinton Bell
OLB James Vaughn
OLB George Obinna
ILB Emmanuel Ellerbee
RB D’Onta Foreman
WR Juwan Green
RB Caleb Huntley
S Dwayne Johnson Jr
OL Sam Jones
OL Ryan Neuzil
TE John Raine
DL Chris Slayton
WR Austin Trammell
TE David Wells
CB Chris Williamson
Vaughters joins George Obinna and Quinton Bell as the other two outside linebackers who will be competing for playing time on the active roster.
Obinna, an undrafted free agent out of Sacramento State last year, spent his rookie season with the Cleveland Browns on the injured reserve list before joining the Falcons this offseason. He saw some action in the Falcons’ first preseason game where he recorded two solo tackles against Tennessee.
As for Bell, he was drafted in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft the Raiders out of Prarie View A&M. He then signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after spending months on the Raiders practice squad. In 2020, Bell saw action in five games with the Bucs, primarily on special teams. Tampa released him last week after he recorded two solo tackles in the Buccs preseason games against the Titans.
The Falcons’ Roster Is Not Final
While the NFL’s 53-man roster deadline was set for 4 P.M. on Tuesday, it’s obvious that the Falcons are still perfecting theirs. And head coach Arthur Smith made it clear that the team will continue to do so up until next Sunday’s season opener against the Eagles.
“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.
Stay tuned for what else Smith and company have up their sleeve when it comes to finalizing the Falcons’ roster.
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Falcons Fill Final Practice Squad Spot With Ex-Bears OLB: Report