Falcons Waive Former Patriots Starting Lineman, Saints Punter

The Atlanta Falcons have made a pair of moves on Monday morning as they get ready to travel to Indianapolis and practice with the Colts.

Offensive lineman Layden Robinson had hoped to make the Atlanta Falcons as a depth piece. | Scott Kennedy - Atlanta Falcons On SI

FLOWERY BRANCH, GA - The Atlanta Falcons are continually making adjustments to their 90-man roster for the summer as they try to get ready for cutdowns to 53 players on August 30th.

They head to Indianapolis this week for a series of joint practices before their preseason game on Saturday. They'll be a little lighter (for now), because the team announced they had parted ways with former New England Patriots starting offensive lineman Layden Robinson and international pathway punter Matthew Hayball.

Robinson was signed by the team in May and hoped to compete with Kyle Hinton for a reserve offensive guard spot. He was originally a fourth-round pick by the Patriots out of Texas A&M in the 2024 NFL Draft.

He started 11 games for the Patriots as a rookie, but he was waived with an injury designation prior to the 2025 season. He went unclaimed, and the Patriots placed him on injured reserve before waiving him again in October of the same year.

The Las Vegas Raiders signed Robinson and re-signed him to a futures contract in January before cutting him in May. The Falcons signed him as a free agent on May 11th. The Falcons haven't announced a corresponding move for the open spot on their 90-man roster.

Hayball didn't count against the Falcons' 90-man roster limit because he was the team's designated player for the International Pathway Program. A native of Australia, he was the starting punter for the New Orleans Saints in 2024. He had 75 punts in 17 games, averaging 44 yards per punt with a long of 64.

The Saints waived him prior to the 2025 season. He had four punts against the Denver Broncos on Friday night, including three inside the 20-yardline and a long of 59.

He was a long shot to make the team after the Falcons signed Jake Bailey to a three-year, $9 million contract with $5 million guaranteed. With that much guaranteed money, Bailey is all but a lock to make the Falcons' roster. He also had four punts on Friday night with a 49.5 average, two inside the 20, and a long of 57.

Bailey punted for the Dolphins for the last three seasons. He was first-team All-Pro with the New England Patriots in 2020 when he averaged career highs in both average (48.7) and net yards per punt (45.6).

The Falcons were woeful on special teams in 2025, but punter Bradley Pinion was serviceable in his job last year. Atlanta led the NFL with 34 punts inside the 20 last year and averaged 40.7 net yards per punt.

The Dolphins averaged 42.6 net yards per punt and had 21 punts inside the 20.

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