Atlanta Falcons Release Initial 2026 53-Man Roster, Winners & Losers

The Atlanta Falcons have released their initial 53-man roster at the 6:00 p.m. Sunday deadline.

All eyes were on the quarterback position heading into the offseason, and not much changed as the Falcons progressed through training camp and the preseason. It was pretty much guaranteed that Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa would make the roster, but undrafted free agent Jack Strand opened a lot of eyes around the NFL and beat the odds to make the initial 53.

Strand is the big winner of the Falcons preseason.

Cooper Rush also made the 53-man roster. He was on the couch at home in Dallas the day before camp started, and he admitted he only packed for a week.

The day got off to a fast start when the Falcons and Bears agreed on a deal early Sunday morning that sent former fourth-round pick Clark Phillips III and a fifth-round pick to the Bears for defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr.

The former Florida Gators standout had six sacks for the Bears last season, and at 326 pounds, easily becomes the biggest defensive lineman on the Falcons. Undrafted free agent Carlos Allen Jr. was one of the losers of the trade. He had a strong preseason but was deemed surplus to requirements after the trade.

Strand wasn't the only undrafted rookie to make the roster; Malcolm Dewalt IV was one of the big winners of the Phillips/Dexter trade. DeWalt helped make the trade possible with a strong showing, and he was one of the big winners of the day.

Edge rusher Bralen Trice was also one of the losers on the day. The 2024 third-round pick never played in a Falcons game before being released on Sunday. He injured his knee in the first preseason game of his rookie season against the Dolphins and didn't return until Friday night's game against those same Dolphins two years later.

Wide receiver Chris Blair made the initial roster after another strong showing during training camp and the preseason. Blair enters the year as the fifth wide receiver, but he'll have to work to hold his spot as the Falcons scour the waiver wire for more help at the position moving forward.

In a bit of a surprise move, the Falcons released offensive tackle Wanya Morris. Atlanta executed a trade over the summer with the Chiefs to obtain Morris. Granted, it wasn't much of a trade with the Falcons sending the Chiefs a sixth-round pick in exchange for a seventh-round pick and Morris. However, Morris had a relatively clear path to being the Falcons' swing tackle, backing up both Jake Matthews and Jawaan Taylor.

Morris lost that job to Michael Jerrell, and Atlanta didn't end up keeping him on the 53.

It was surprising to see the Falcons just keep two running backs. Tyler Goodson and Cash Jones looked good enough in the preseason that both could have made the roster. The Falcons won't have just two on game days. One or both could be signed this week if the Falcons make some procedural moves by moving a player from the 53 to an injured list.

Below is a look at the Atlanta Falcons' initial 53-man roster sorted by position, who made the roster, and who didn't.

Atlanta Falcons Current Roster (53)

Quarterback (4)

Active	Cuts
Jack Strand	None
Michael Penix Jr.
Tua Tagovailoa
Cooper Rush

Running Back (2)

Active	Cuts
Bijan Robinson	Nathan Carter
Brian Robinson Jr.	Cash Jones
	Tyler Goodson

Wide Receiver (5)

Active	Cuts
Chris Blair	Dylan Drummond
Drake London	Vinny Anthony II
Jahan Dotson	Antwane Wells Jr.
Olamide Zaccheaus	Beaux Collins
Zachariah Branch	Keelan Marion

Tight End (3)

Active	Cuts
Austin Hooper	Joshua Simon
Charlie Woerner	Nick Muse
Kyle Pitts Sr.	Jack Velling

Offensive Line (9)

Active	Cuts
Chris Lindstrom	Brandon Walton
Corey Levin	Andrew Stueber
Ethan Onianwa	Jaeden Roberts
Jake Matthews	Wanya Morris
Jawaan Taylor	James Brockermeyer
Kyle Hinton	Riley Mahlman
Matthew Bergeron	Kam Dewberry
Michael Jerrell
Ryan Neuzil

Defensive Line (6)

Active	Cuts
Brandon Dorlus	Eric Johnson
Da'Shawn Hand	Carlos Allen Jr.
Gervon Dexter Sr.	Devonnsha Maxwell
LaCale London	Marlon Tuipulotu
Maason Smith	Chris Williams
Zach Harrison

Edge Rusher (3)

Active	Cuts
Samson Ebukam	Bralen Trice
Za'Darius Smith	James Pearce Jr. (Reserve/Suspended)
Cameron Thomas	Azeez Ojulari
	Keshawn Banks
	Cameron Sample

Linebacker (5)

Active	Cuts
Christian Harris	Channing Tindall
Divine Deablo	Daveren Rayner
Harold Perkins Jr.	Josh Woods
Kendal Daniels
JD Bertrand

Cornerback (7)

Active	Cuts
A.J. Terrell Jr.	Darren Hall to IR
Avieon Terrell	Clark Phillips III (Trade)
C.J. Henderson	A.J. Woods
Mike Ford Jr.	Cobee Bryant
Malcolm DeWalt IV	Darnay Holmes
Mike Hughes
Natrone Brooks

Safety (6)

Active	Cuts
DeMarcco Hellams	Keidron Smith
Jessie Bates III
Sydney Brown
Xavier Watts
Billy Bowman
Jammie Robinson

Specialists (3)

Active
Nick Folk (K)
Jake Bailey (P)
Liam McCullough (LS)

What's Next? Practice Squad

The Falcons can begin signing players to their 16-man practice squad on Monday at 1 p.m. EST after each of the cuts around the NFL clears waivers.

Atlanta Falcons Roster Updates:

Sunday 8/30

2:45 p.m. The AJC's Daniel Flick reports the Falcons are releasing undrafted free agent Carlos Allen Jr. Allen has been a standout in the Falcons' last two preseason games. He was labeled among the losers in the trade for Gervon Dexter in a crowded defensive tackle room.

2:29 p.m. Tom Pelissero reports the Falcons are releasing tight end Nick Muse. Muse was late to the team. They signed him on August 11th, and Pelissero believes the Falcons will try to sign him to the practice squad. Kevin Stefanski routinely keeps four tight ends, but we only projected three, with at least two being on the practice squad that can be used as game-day elevations. Joshua Simon was released earlier this weekend as well.

2:19 p.m. Tom Pelissero reports the Falcons are waiving undrafted free agent center James Brockermeyer. Brockermeyer was in competition with Corey Levin for the backup role, and as training camp wore on, it became more and more clear that Levin would get the nod. The Falcons would hope to get the Senior Bowl standout back via the practice squad if he clears waivers.

2:10 p.m. Jonathan Jones of The Athletic reports the Falcons are waiving former third-round pick Bralen Trice. Trice was injured as a rookie in 2024 in his first preseason game at Miami. The first time he saw the field again in a Falcons game was Friday's preseason matchup, once again in Miami. Trice joined training camp late from injury and missed the middle two weeks of camp before playing on Friday night.

1:10 p.m. Mike Garafolo reported the Falcons have released offensive tackle Wanya Morris. The Falcons traded for Morris, swapping a sixth-round pick for Morris and a seventh-round pick with the Chiefs after Storm Norton was ruled out for the season. Morris was expected to be the top swing tackle for the Falcons, but has seemingly lost that spot to Michael Jerrell, saw action at both right and left tackle in training camp.

8:28 a.m.: The morning got started with a bang with the Falcons trading former fourth-round cornerback Clark Phillips III and a fifth-round pick to the Chicago Bears for defensive tackle Ghervon Dexter Sr. Phillips was on the bubble, but expected to make the 53-man roster for the Falcons. This now calls into question the health of Da'Shawn Hand and the security of players like Carlos Allen Jr. and Chris Williams, who are on the bubble at defensive tackle.

Saturday 8/29

5:45 p.m.: ESPN's Marc Raimondi reports the Falcons put defensive back Darren Hall on injured reserve.

5:15 p.m.: The AJC's Daniel Flick added seven names to the initial cuts. WR Keelan Marion, TE Joshua Simon, OG Jaeden Roberts, OT Andrew Steuber, DL Devonnsha Maxwell, LB Daveren Rayner, and DB Keidron Smith.

4:50 p.m.: News of the first Falcons cut began to trickle in when Adam Schefter reported the Falcons released linebacker Channing Tindall, offensive lineman Brandon Walton, and defensive tackle Eric Johnson.

Tindall signed with the Falcons in March as a free agent on a veteran minimum contract, but he saw his chances diminish with the rise of rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels and Harold Perkins Jr.

Walton signed in May after a tryout, and Johnson just joined the team a little over a week ago.

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