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The Atlanta Falcons have found a new long snapper after losing Josh Harris to free agency last month.
The team announced Monday, April 4 that they have signed former Tennesse Titans long snapper, Beau Brinkley, to a one-year deal.
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Brinkley Reunites With Arthur Smith
Brinkley, 32, comes to Atlanta knowing a familiar face in Falcons’ head coach Arthur Smith.
The two overlapped in Tennessee during Smith’s nine-year coaching stint with the Titans.
The Mississippi State product originally signed with the Titans in 2012 where he held down the long snapper job until 2020 following two contract extensions. In eight seasons with Tennessee, Brinkley earned two Pro Bowl Invites and was named an All-Pro twice.
But the Titans ended up parting ways with the reliable snapper after he tore his meniscus, which put a damper on his consistency.
“I love Beau Brinkley,” Titans’ general manager Jon Robinson said in 2020 after Brinkley’s release, via Sports Illustrated. “He is a pro’s pro. He’s a hard worker. He’s a great teammate. I’ve got nothing but the utmost respect for (Brinkley) and how he handles his craft, but it was something that he had gotten sideways on a little bit and we didn’t see him fixing it, so felt like we needed to make a move there.”
He spent last season bouncing on and off the practice squads of the Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions and LA Chargers.
He was most recently signed by the Chicago Bears in February but was cut in March after the team re-signed long snapper Patrick Scales.
He has played in 135 games thus far and has logged 33 tackles.
Falcons Lose Harris to the LA Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers signed Falcons’ longtime long snapper Josh Harris at the start of free agency.
Harris, who became an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday, March 16, headed to LA on March 17 on a four-year, $5.6 million deal with $1.92 million guaranteed.
The Falcons had two players make the 2022 Pro Bowl roster: Kyle Pitts and Josh Harris.
Both were first-timers as Pitts became the first rookie tight end to land on the initial Pro Bowl roster since Jeremy Shockey in 2002, while Harris’ was long overdue.
Harris, 32, who has been with the Falcons for 10 seasons, has handled the long-snapping duties in all but five of 168 games.
Way before his NFL career, Harris played both linebacker and long snapper at Carrollton High School in Carrollton, Georgia. From there, he walked onto the Auburn football team in 2007 where he ended up starting as the Tigers’ long snapper from 2009 through 2011. He earned himself a scholarship in 2010, the same year the Tigers won the SEC title along with the BCS Championship, thanks to his snap for Wes Byrum’s game-winning field goal over Oregon.
In 2012, Harris signed with the Falcons as an undrafted free agent and started Week 1 after beating out veteran Joe Zelenka in the pre-season.
Harris joins several other key players that the Falcons have lost to free agency including:
- Wide receiver Russell Gage (Tampa Bay Buccanneers)
- Linebacker Foye Oluokun (Jacksonville Jaguars)
- Tight end Hayden Hurst (Cincinnati Bengals)
- Defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. (Dallas Cowboys)
While the Falcons are still in need of more wide receiver, linebacker, tight end and defensive end help––at least they have a filled their long snapper roster vacancy.
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