The team announced earlier today that they have cut guard Vince Manuwai. Manuwai joins Lofa Tatupu as the team’s lone two free agent signings this off-season, and now both players have been released within the opening week of training camp. Manuwai was expected to compete with Peter Konz and Garrett Reynolds for the right guard position. Manuwai sat out last season after spending eight seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Adam Caplan of the Sideline View reports that Falcons defensive tackle Corey Peters will go on the team’s active/Non-Football Injury list. Per D. Orlando Ledbetter of the AJC, Peters is set to miss at least 3 weeks with a foot injury that sidelined him throughout the off-season. Once Peters is cleared to practice, he will come off the list.

In other roster moves, the team will add wide receiver Tim Toone and defensive tackle Elisha Joseph to fill the spots on the roster vacated by Lofa Tatupu and now Peters. Toone was the final pick in the 2010 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions. He spent the beginning of his rookie season on the Lions’ practice squad before winding up on injured reserve. He would be cut by the Lions last summer, and wound up spending time with both the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos, on each of their respective practices quads. He was cut by the Broncos this past April. Toone played at Weber State and also has experience returning punts. He turned 27 this past February, thanks in large part to spending two years in Africa as part of his LDS mission.

Joseph was an undrafted free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers last summer out of Temple. Joseph was on and off the Steelers practice squad throughout last season. Joseph played nose tackle both at Temple and with the Steelers. Joseph gives the team some much needed depth behind the injured Peters. In Peters place, Peria Jerry has been getting first team reps.

D. Orlando Ledbetter of the AJC reports that the Falcons are set to release linebacker Lofa Tatupu today with an injury settlement. The team announced yesterday that Tatupu would miss the entire season with a torn pectoral injury. Players reported today for the Falcons training camp. Practices begin tomorrow, and with the impending release of Tatupu the Falcons will have an available roster position to fill. By cutting Tatupu, the Falcons save roughly $400,000 in 2012 cap space.

The Falcons announced late Friday night that they had waived/injured linebacker Matt Hansen. If Hansen clears waivers then he will wind up on the team’s non-football injury list. Hansen suffered a knee injury last month, rupturing his patellar tendon which is expected to sideline him for four to six months to recover. As such, it was likely that Hansen would most if not all of the 2012 NFL season.

Hansen was an undrafted free agent out of Rhode Island signed by the team last summer. He played safety for the Falcons last summer, but upon returning to the team this off-season, he was moved to linebacker, the position he played during his collegiate days.

Chris Hope

The team announced the signing of veteran safety Chris Hope, formerly of the Tennessee Titans today. The team made room for hope on the roster by waiving undrafted rookie wideout Cody Pearcy yesterday.

Hope is a ten-year veteran that has spent the past six with the Titans. In that span, he recorded 16 interceptions, 34 pass breakups, 4 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles as the Titans starting strong safety. Hope earned Pro Bowl honors in 2008 with the Titans, where he finished with 78 tackles and 4 interceptions. In 2011, Hope was slowed by injuries. He began the season nursing a bum shoulder, missing two games. In his second start of the year, he broke his arm and missed the next four contests. He returned in Week 10 as a reserve. He managed to end the year with 25 tackles and an interception in 10 appearances. Prior to joining the Titans, Hope played with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he started two out of his four total seasons in Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh, Hope was the starter at free safety, playing alongside Troy Polamalu. Originally, a third round pick out of Florida State in 2002. Hope has been noted throughout his career for his leadership skills. He’ll likely supplant both Shann Schillinger and Charles Mitchell as the team’s top safety reserve and his experience at either safety spot means that he can fill in the event of injury to either starters there.

New York Jets kicker Nick Folk tweeted earlier tonight that the Falcons had signed his younger brother, Erik, an undrafted free agent kicker out of Washington. The Falcons had a roster spot open from cutting long snapper Corey Adams last week.

Folk spent three seasons as the Huskies’ primary field goal kicker and kickoff specialist. He was a Lou Groza Award semi-finalist as a senior, making all 56 extra points and connecting on 11 of 16 field goals, with a long of 53. He also had 8 touchbacks on 76 kickoffs as a senior. For his career, Folk made all 124 extra point attempts in his career. He was 42 of 57 (73.7%) on field goals, and had 15 touchbacks on 196 kickoffs for his career. Folk will be expected to push Matt Bryant for his kicking job, but also compete with Matt Bosher on kickoffs.

In this week’s episode, Ryan and I get back to the grind of talking about the Falcons. Taking segments of recent live shows where we talk about different position groups on the offense, this episode is an amalgamation (I know, big word) of those discussions. Also included in this episode is our interview with The Bleacher Report’s Scott Carasik, another knowledgeable Falcon fan. If you want to hear practically every offensive player on the Falcons roster get discussed, then this is the episode for you. Topics range from who will make the roster to what can be expected from different players this year. What if any changes that Dirk Koetter has will affect different players and positions. Ryan and I get into a long debate about what exactly is an elite quarterback. Michael Turner’s future, Chris Redman, Kerry Meier, Julio Jones, and Sam Baker are other Falcon players that get extensive discussions in this episode.

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Duration: 1 hour, 39 minutes

If you have any questions and comments, you can hit us up on Twitter, post in the forums in the podcast thread, or drop Ryan an e-mail at: ryan-valdez@live.com. Don’t forget to drop by every week to hear our live broadcast at: justin.tv/didziojo

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Frey takes one to the house in the 2011 Fiesta Bowl

A lot of talk has been made about the Falcons many undrafted additions at the wide receiver position that could be making the roster, including burner Cody Pearcy. But a player that might be going under the radar and has just as strong a chance to make the team’s final roster is former UConn Huskie and Kutztown Golden Bear Robbie Frey. Frey won’t have an easy road trying to make the Falcons roster, but his potential as a kickoff returner could give him a significant leg up.

With the loss of Eric Weems as the team’s primary return specialist, a big part of this summer’s training camp competitions will be to find a player or two that can replace him. The Falcons will likely rest on either Harry Douglas or Dominique Franks to return punts, both having done so before. But it leaves the competition for who will take over on kickoffs wide open.

That likely will mean that any one of the Falcons undrafted receivers and Frey will have an opportunity to shine and make the roster. Unlike the receivers, while Frey isn’t blessed with dynamic speed, he is unique in the sense that he was consistently productive and the most experience kickoff returner among the undrafted crop. The only other player with his level of experience is James Rodgers, and he’s been slowed by an ACL injury that he suffered in 2010, and is now still continuing to fight back from.

The departure of Ovie Mughelli does increase the odds that Frey coudl make the roster. The Falcons aren’t guaranteed to carry more than one fullback on the roster, something they did last season. The team carried Ovie Mughelli in that role until his injury, and then Mike Cox afterwards. They could do the same with fifth round pick Bradie Ewing being the run-away favorite to be the starter this season. Last year, they opted to keep four tailbacks in Michael Turner, Jacquizz Rodgers, Jason Snelling, and Antone Smith. Snelling’s ability to double as a lead blocker means that the team isn’t forced to carry more than one fullback at a time. Smith predominantly played on special teams, a role he shined in late in the year. But his roster status is far from a lock. And he’ll be pushed by Dimitri Nance and Frey for a potential fourth tailback spot. If Frey can prove himself as a return man, and also a capable gunner on special teams like Smith then he has as good a chance as anyone to make the roster. Another key part to the equation will be how well he can pick up the passing game. When Nance and Smith competed directly for the reserve role back in 2010, a big part of the reason why Smith made it and Nance did not was because Smith was the more polished player in pass protection. Frey did not have a ton of experience working in the passing game at either UConn or Kutztown, but if he can show he’s a quick study the team could give him the opportunity.

But the primary value Frey can bring to the table is kickoff return specialist. And while the rule changes to kickoffs have limited the ability of kickoff returners, it is not a throwaway position. The majority of kicks go into the endzone forcing teams to settle for touchbacks. But a good returner can add value if he can take kicks that would normally be called for touchbacks and get them beyond the 20-yard line to set up his team for success. If a team can trust it’s returner to be able to take kicks five or six yards deep and then turn that into a twenty-five or thirty yard gain, it is immensely valuable to an offense to give it the best possible field position. If Frey can showcase this kind of ability, and his extensive experience should help him, then he has as good if not a better shot than anyone of landing the role and finding a place on the roster.

Yesterday the Falcons announced the signing of four of their six 2012 draft picks, as well as the signing of three players that tried out with the team during this past weekend’s rookie minicamp. Of the draftees that signed on the dotted line, top pick Peter Konz, along with fullback Bradie Ewing, safety Charles Mitchell, and defensive tackle Travian Robertson signed four-year deals. Offensive tackle Lamar Holmes and defensive end Jonathan Massaquoi still remain unsigned. From the teams tryout players, the team signed fullback Lee Meisner, wide receiver Kenny Stafford, and tight end Aron White. To make room, the team cut ties with undrafted defensive tackle Ray Kibble.

Meisner (5-11/241) hails from Colorado State-Pueblo where he served as a four-year starter at inside linebacker. He also served part-time as the team’s punter his freshman and sophomore year, combining for 36.0-yard average on 53 punts. He led the team three consecutive years in tackling, having a career high of 124 tackles and 9.5 for loss as a junior. He had 98 tackles, 8 for loss, and a career-high 4 interceptions as a senior. For his career, Meisner finished with 349 tackles, 30.5 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, 8 interceptions, 12 pass breakups, 4 forced fumbles, and 1 recovery. The Falcons intend on converting him to offense in order to compete for a reserve spot at fullback.

Stafford (6-1/198) started 9 of 13 games this past year for Toledo, catching 21 passes for 272 yards (13.0 avg) and 1 touchdown. For his career, he caught 59 passes for 906 yards (15.4 avg) and 8 scores during his career, predominantly as a reserve. At Toledo’s pro day in March he clocked a 4.37 40 time with a 35-inch vertical jump. He is also the nephew of former Minnesota Vikings All-Pro wideout Cris Carter.

White (6-4/239) was the backup to Orson Charles at Georgia working most of his career as the No. 2 guy. But he did start as a sophomore, where he had career bests of 13 catches for 198 yards (15.2 avg) and 4 touchdowns, while starting 12 of 13 games. The past two seasons, he has caught a combined 18 passes for 226 yards (12.6 avg) and 4 scores.

The Falcons announced today that Ovie Mughelli was released from the team. Rumors of Ovie’s eventual departure began the moment the team used a fifth round pick on Bradie Ewing in last month’s draft. Ovie’s release is by no means a surprise, as it was predicted as a possibility way back in January on this site, but it is unfortunate given the timing. Per the AJC, he was cleared to return to practice this past Friday. And had the team decided to cut him at any point in the past 8 weeks since free agency began, it could have given him more opportunities to find a landing spot with another team and a potential starting position.

Mughelli was signed by the Falcons in 2007 to what was at the time the most lucrative deal ever given to a fullback. Although, Bobby Petrino’s offense made minimal use of that position, and thus Mughelli languished on that team during the Falcons poor season. With the introduction of Mike Smith, Mike Mularkey, and Michael Turner to the offense, Mughelli’s value increased a hundredfold. Over the course of the next three seasons, Mughelli staked out a reputation as one of the league’s top fullbacks and lead blockers in the league, culminating in him being voted to the Pro Bowl in 2010. In 2011, Mughelli suffered a knee injury in the season opener against the Chicago Bears. The injury limited him in subsequent games before he was forced to be shut down for the season at the end of October.