In what is a surprising move, NFL insider Jay Glazer tweeted that the Falcons would be cutting ties with defensive end Ray Edwards earlier this evening. The move comes as a surprise due to the fact that it is a mid-season release of a player that was the team’s top free agent addition following the lockout of last summer.

Edwards came to the Falcons after several seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, earning a reputation as one of the league’s up and coming pass rushers. In five seasons in Minnesota, including four as a starter Edwards tallied 29.5 sacks. Last year with Atlanta, after coming off a knee injury, Edwards had a disappointing 3.5 sacks. This past off-season, now healthy and with the introduction of Mike Nolan as the team’s defensive coordinator, greater production was expected of Edwards. What resulted was the loss of his starting job to Kroy Biermann and very limited playing time, predominantly serving as a run defender. In 9 games and 4 starts this season, Edwards recorded no sacks and just 9 tackles.

More than likely, Edwards’ release will lead to increased reps for Lawrence Sidbury, as well as Cliff Matthews and rookie Jonathan Massaquoi. Both Matthews and Massaquoi have been inactive for the majority of Falcons games this season.

The Falcons earlier today announced the signing of fullback Mike Cox and the release of Lousaka Polite. The team also announced that guard Jacques McClendon was signed to the practice squad. He replaces Phillip Manley, who was elevated to the active roster yesterday.

Cox was cut by the Falcons this past summer after losing a training camp competition to Polite. Cox originally joined the Falcons in October 2011 as an injury replacement for Ovie Mughelli.

Polite signed with Atlanta midway through camp after rookie fullback Bradie Ewing went down with a season-ending injury. In his stint with the team, Polite started 5 of 6 games, catching a single pass for 8 yards.

McClendon originally entered the league as a fourth round pick with the Indianapolis Colts in 2010. He played in four games with the Colts in his rookie season. He was cut the following summer and was picked up by the Detroit Lions. He was inactive for four games before being released. He rejoined the Lions after 2011 but was cut this past summer. He was briefly on the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad in October before joining the Falcons. During his college career at Tennessee, he started 26 career games at right guard and earned Academic All-SEC honors twice.

The Falcons today announced that guard Garrett Reynolds would be placed on injured reserve. Replacing Reynolds on the team’s active roster will be practice squad player Phillip Manley.

Reynolds had missed the past two games due to a back injury he suffered in the Falcons Week 5 win over the Washington Redskins. In his place, rookie Peter Konz has been starting at right guard. Reynolds started at right guard through seven games last year before being benched in favor of Joe Hawley. This year, he managed six starts at the position before injury sidelined him.

Manley was an undrafted rookie free agent out of Toledo signed this past spring. He was cut by the team on the eve of their Week 1 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, and added to the practice squad where he has been ever since.

The Falcons announced their weekly injury report earlier today, upon which wide receiver Harry Douglas was declared out for this weekend’s upcoming contest against the Philadelphia Eagles. Douglas missed the entire week of practice after injuring his left knee and ankle during the team’s Week 6 win over the Oakland Raiders. D.J. Davis has thus far received the majority of snaps as the team’s fourth wide receiver so far this season, but the team may also get Kevin Cone into the mix.

The team also announced that defensive tackle Corey Peters was activated from the NFI to the 53-man active roster today, making him eligible to play this Sunday against the Eagles. Peters returned to practice on Monday, after missing the previous four months due to a foot injury. To make room for Peters on the roster, the team cut cornerback Terrence Johnson.

Also on the Falcons’ injury report was guard Garrett Reynolds (back) as questionable, and defensive tackle Jonathan Babineaux (groin), tight end Michael Palmer (shoulder), and running back Antone Smith (hamstring) as probable. Palmer and Smith are expected to make their returns to the lineup. Palmer was injured early in the Falcons Week 3 win over the San Diego Chargers, and Smith has been in and out of the lineup over the past month with his hamstring injury. Babineaux has been nursing his groin injury since the Chargers game. Reynolds’ back injury has caused him to be limited in the past two weeks of practices going back prior to the Raider game. Babineaux and Palmer both were limited during Wednesday and Thursday practices, but fully participated in practice today. Smith was a full participant today as well, but was limited on Thursday and missed Wednesday’s practice. Reynolds was limited in all three days of practice this week.

Adam Caplan of The Sideline View initially broke the news, and the Falcons eventually confirmed that they had signed cornerback Terrence Johnson. Johnson will take over the roster spot of Brent Grimes, who was placed on injured reserve after rupturing his Achilles in Sunday’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Johnson played last year with the Indianapolis Colts, appearing in 10 games with 2 starts, predominantly as a nickel cornerback in the slot. Johnson finished hte year with 33 tackles. He began his pro career as an undrafted free agent with the New England Patriots in 2010 out of California (PA). After being cut by the Patriots after training camp, he was a late season practice squad pickup by the Colts. He returned to the Colts in 2011 and made the roster a year ago before being cut this past month.

Dominique Franks

The Falcons announced today that they have re-signed cornerback Dominique Franks and waived-injured wideout Tim Toone. Franks was among the team’s more surprising cuts during last weekend’s cutdown to 53 players. Franks and Toone had split reps during the preseason on punt returns. With the waived-injured designation, Toone will be placed on the Falcons’ injured reserve upon clearing waivers.

Since being cut by the Falcons, Franks has gotten looks from the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs (per Adam Caplan) and Miami Dolphins (per Aaron Wilson). Last season, Franks started four games as an injury replacement for Brent Grimes. He finished the season with 15 tackles and a pair of interceptions.

During this past preseason, Franks returned a total of 6 punts for 70 yards (11.7 avg), including a 45-yard return in the preseason opener against the Ravens. Toone had 6 punt returns for 48 yards (8.0 avg).

The Falcons announced today that they added three more players to their eight-man practice squad to complete the unit. The team announced they had signed tight end Chase Coffman, linebacker Pat Schiller, and safety Mark LeGree after signing five players yesterday.

Coffman and Schiller both were with the Falcons this summer. Coffman was a mid-August signing that was cut in early August by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Coffman is a third-year player, but his only on-field experience was six games with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2010. Schiller was an undrafted free agent this year with the Falcons out of Northern Illinois. LeGree was a fifth round pick in 2011 by the Seattle Seahawks last year but was cut prior to the start of the season. He played on three different teams’ practice squds during the course of the 2011 season: Arizona, San Francisco, and the New York Jets. He was re-signed by the 49ers after the season, but was cut by them in mid-August. He was picked up by the Chicago Bears and finished camp with them before being cut this past weekend. LeGree hails from Appalachian State where he tallied 22 interceptions in three seasons as a starter.

The Falcons announced five additions to their eight-man practice squad today, having signed wide receivers Drew “D.J.” Davis and Marcus Jackson, offensive tackle Bryce Harris, defensive tackle Micanor Regis, and cornerback Peyton Thompson. All five players were released by the team yesterday in their 53-man cutdown. The Falcons have set no timetable for when three other players could be added to fill the remainder of the practice squad.

Davis spent last season on the Falcons practice squad after being an undrafted free agent out of Oregon. The other four players were all undrafted free agents this year. During the preseason, Jackson as tied for fourth on the team with 7 receptions for 73 yards. Thompson’s 12 tackles tied for fourth on the team as well during the preseason. And Regis’s 6 tackles were tied with Travian Robertson for second most of the team’s defensive tackles.

Through their designation, practice squad players are paid a weekly salary of $5,700. They are free to sign with other teams since they are treated as free agents, yet still practice with their own team and travel to most road games.

Looking at which players potentially stepped up in last night’s loss to Jacksonville to make one final push for a roster/practice squad position. As well as those players that may have not.

Stock Up

Kevin Cone – Cone has had a few too many drops this preseason, but he made up for it with a nice catch and run for the team’s lone passing touchdown against Jacksonville. If Cone is cut, the highlight of that play alone will make it harder for him to clear waivers and wind up on the Falcons’ practice squad. I don’t know if he showed enough to make the team as the fifth wideout, but he definitely did enough to make that decision harder for the Falcons brass.

Pat Schiller – I’ve been impressed with Schiller in each of the Falcons preseason games, but watching him last night as he tied with Akeem Dent for the team lead in tackles, I think he’s far and away the most impressive of the team’s three rookie linebackers. He may not be the biggest, strongest, or fastest of the group, but watching him closely, he’s the most instinctual and best able to put himself in a position to make a play. That’s what you want in a young linebacker. I don’t think it has been enough to make the final roster, but at the very least it solidify a practice squad spot for him.

Peyton Thompson – Thompson did some nice things both on defense and special teams. While he was the culprit that got beat by the long touchdown to Kevin Elliott, in retrospect he won’t look as bad when the team reviews the film, because Mike Smith will be so busy chewing out everyone else for missing those tackles to notice Thompson got beat. Thompson is a solid corner in run support as well as coverage and has had a good enough summer that he should be a shoe-in for a practice squad spot. And it might have been good enough that he could sneak onto the roster, especially if Chris Owens’ health and availability for the regular season opener is questionable.

Chris Hope – With Mitchell having some struggles, I think Hope showed some things last night including some on special teams. Schillinger is one of the team’s top special teams players, but Hope’s ability to contribute there could get him potentially the nod. Up until last night, I think Hope’s chances were tied exclusively to his experience, and not necessarily whether he can bring certain skills to the field. But I think that began to teeter last night, and Hope showcased that he is much more than an old guy that at one point in time was a pretty good safety.

Stock Down

Dominique Davis – I don’t think Davis hurt his chances of making the team. I think he was a lock to make it before last night, otherwise they would not have cut Chris Redman. But in increased reps, Davis did not really blossom as much as people hoped (including myself). He made some nice plays, but made his share of mistakes. I believe the Falcons were hoping going into the game, that if Davis had a strong enough performance he could potentially take over the No. 2 position behind Matt Ryan. But after a few too many mental errors and inaccurate throws, I’m not sure that was accomplished.

LaMark Brown – Brown had another pass go through his hands and into the arms of a defender, the second time that has happened this preaseason. While Brown has excellent athletic potential as a tight end and H-back, it does not appear he’s ready for prime time. The Falcons probably need to be scouring the waiver wire for their third tight end.

Charles Mitchell – I think Mitchell was probably the safest of the three backup safeties going into the Jaguar game, but now I’m not so sure. He missed a couple of tackles, two of which directly resulted in Jaguars touchdowns. Mitchell has a potentially bright future on special teams, so I think he’ll still make it. But the race is tighter than it was 24 hours ago.

This is the port in the summer where people are talking about trading players, and I just wanted to quickly go over some Falcon players that probably have the most trade value. Obviously, a player like Roddy White would have huge trade value, but the Falcons won’t trade him. I’m looking more at guys that appear to be somewhat expendable and have an outside shot that it could happen if a phone call was made.

Most trades at this point in time involve late round picks and roster bubble players. The Vontae Davis trade withstanding, it’s rare a team will part ways with their top corner who is only in his third year in the league. The normal trade at this point in time is what the Colts did earlier when they acquired Josh Gordy from St. Louis. Most of these trades are for conditional picks, meaning that if said player makes the new team’s roster or plays a certain amount of games in the upcoming season, compensation will be exchanged. If not, then nothing is lost.

I’ll start with Michael Turner, not because I think he’ll be traded or should be traded, but just because in the dark reaches of an alley, there are a few Falcon fans conspiring about it. Turner does not have a ton of trade value. I think it would be possible for the Falcons to get a conditional fifth or sixth round pick at this point in time for Turner, potentially based off how many rushing yards he has this season. But that’s probably about it. That really is not worth it.

Jason Snelling is another player that could be shopped most years, but his injury as well as the question marks that the Falcons have at fullback probably placed in the non-expendable category. Teams don’t normally trade for injured players, and when they do it rarely turns in their favor. (see Otah, Jeff)

Also on offense, players that could be parted ways with include some of their backup offensive linemen. Namely Andrew Jackson, Joe Hawley, and Mike Johnson. Hawley and Johnson probably have better value on the market namely because Hawley has gotten extensive reps last year and Johnson was a higher round pick that many people liked coming out of Alabama. A team like Dallas, who has been hurting at a position like center could probably be interested in a player like Hawley for a possible sixth or seventh rounder. Johnson probably could fetch the same price, if a team was looking for a guy that can add depth at guard or tackle.

On the defensive line, the two players that are probably the easiest to trade would be Kroy Biermann and Vance Walker. I would be shocked if the Falcons would trade Biermann because he seems to be nestled atop their depth chart as the team’s nickel pass rusher, replacing Ray Edwards. But given the fact that they still would have Edwards and Lawrence Sidbury to fill that role, and could still develop Jonathan Massaquoi and/or Cliff Matthews as depth, it would not be crazy if the Falcons did shop Biermann for a late round pick. Walker’s experience means that a team hurting for a run-stopping one-gap tackle could be enticed to give up a seventh rounder.

If the Falcons were confident in the return abilities of Harry Douglas on punts, it could potentially mean that Dominique Franks could be shopped. If a team was really hurting for depth at cornerback, they might also look at Chris Owens, assuming he’s fully recovered from his hamstring injury. The Falcons could presumably opt to deal one of them because of the other’s presence.

I don’t think any of these players should be traded or will be traded, but it always interesting to see what possibilities are out there. A lot of those players I mentioned, getting just a conditional sixth or seventh round pick doesn’t seem like a fair trade for the Falcons. Ultimately the depth many of those guys provide and the roles they fill are worth me in return than a draft pick that ultimately will just be a career backup and special teamer in all likelihood. Biermann is a prime example of this. He’s a pulled muscle away from starting a bunch of games this year and helping keep the pass rush from evaporating. No offense, but that right there is worth more than drafting another Charles Mitchell or Wilrey Fontenot.