The Falcons announced today that four of their restricted free agents signed their one-year tenders today. Those players that signed their tenders were offensive linemen Tyson Clabo, Harvey Dahl, and Quinn Ojinnaka, and running back Jason Snelling.

Today was the last day that restricted free agents could sign offer sheets with other teams. No word on whether or not punter Michael Koenen or running back Jerious Norwood signed their tenders, but since they did not sign offer sheets with other teams, they aren’t going anywhere.

Clabo and Dahl will earn $2.521 million in base salary this year. Snelling will make $1.684 million and Ojinnaka $1.176 million. When Koenen and Norwood sign, they will be set to earn $2.73 million and $1.759 million, respectively.

Updating previous reports, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the AJC now reports that in addition to Tyson Clabo and Michael Koenen, Jerious Norwood and Harvey Dahl have also received first round tenders. Ledbetter also reports that Quinn Ojinnaka received a tender, which was already reported by Adam Caplan of Scout.com on his Twitter acount. Caplan also reports that Jason Snelling received a second round tender.

This update now indicates that the Falcons have only yet to tender safeties Antoine Harris, Jamaal Fudge, and Charlie Peprah.

Like Clabo, Norwood and Dahl carry first round pick as compensation in the case they are signed by another team. They will earn salaries of $2.521 million this year. Snelling will carry second round compensation with a salary of $1.684 million.

We don’t know quite what the Falcons will do with their restricted free agent tenders. They have until Thursday to make decisions. But here is what I think should and could happen.

Chief among the Falcons restricted free agents are Jason Snelling, Tyson Clabo, Harvey Dahl, Jerious Norwood, and Michael Koenen. The Falcons will almost certainly tender all five of these players.

Because of the rules of the uncapped season, restricted free agents won’t be just fourth year players, instead fifth and sixth year players will also be restricted. And thus, because of their different levels of experience, players will have different tender levels. The way restricted free agency works is that teams tender players at certain levels to determine potential compensation if another team signs them to an offer sheet. If the original team chooses not to match the offer sheet, then they sign with the new team and the original team gets some sort of compensation, usually equaling the original round in which the player was drafted.

Snelling as a fourth year player at a minimum will be tendered with a $1.101 million tender. If that is the case, the Falcons will receive a 7th round pick in terms of compensation if another team was to sign him. But since the Falcons saw how valuable Snelling was last year both as a reserve fullback and tailback, it’s likely they will tender him at a higher level. That next highest level will be $1.684 million, which allows them to receive a second round pick as compensation.

Clabo, Dahl, and Norwood are fifth year players. Both Clabo and Dahl were undrafted free agents, which means if the Falcons tendered them at the lowest level they would receive nothing in terms of compensation. More than likely, the team will tender both starters at the first round level, which for players with their experience would be worth $2.521 million. Norwood as a former third round pick probably can be tendered at the minimum level of $1.176 million.

Koenen is a sixth-year player but since he was tagged with the Franchise tag last year his minimum tender will have to be 110% of what he made last year. The franchise tag for last season was $2.48 million, which means that the Falcons will have to tender him at $2.73 million.

The other restricted free agents on the roster include safeties Antoine Harris, Charlie Peprah, and Jamaal Fudge, and offensive linemen Quinn Ojinnaka. Ojinnaka is the most likely to get tendered because of his value as a utility backup on the offensive line. As a fifth round pick, he’ll likely be tendered at the minimum level for a fifth year player ($1.176 million).

The three safeties will be harder to decide. All three players can contribute on special teams, but more than likely next summer there will only be one roster spot available for any. So more than likely, the Falcons could probably get away with tendering one of them, whichever they see as the most valuable and most likely to win a camp competition, and let the other two walk. That player will more than likely be either Harris or Peprah. The team cut Fudge at the end of last year’s camp, and only brought him back after Brian William’s injury. So they’ve already seen him as expendable. Harris ended the season on injured reserve after tearing a PCL in December. The team can’t cut him because he’s injured, but not tendering him is a way of letting him go without having to come to an injury settlement. But a PCL tear is considerably less devastating as an ACL tear, and usually doesn’t require surgery (see Brian Finneran). Time to rest typically can heal them, so more than likely unless any complications come up during Harris’ rehab, he should be healthy enough to compete for a job come August. Peprah also ended the season injured with a sore hamstring, but that should also be healed in time for OTAs.

More than likely the team will tender both at the minimum level ($1.176 million). That would mean no compensation for Harris because he was undrafted, and fifth round pick for Peprah. If they decide to tender Fudge, it would put him in the same boat as Harris because he too was undrafted.

Curtis Lofton

J. Michael Moore of AtlantaFalcons.com reports that middle linebacker Curtis Lofton returned to practice today. Lofton has been held out of practice since the first day of training camp due to a hamstring injury.

Per the report, all players on the roster practice today except running back Jason Snelling, who suffered a bit hit from Jamaal Fudge on Friday’s scrimmage. The Falcons welcomed back Roddy White for his first day of practice due to his holdout, as well as defensive tackle Trey Lewis who missed a few days last week.

Already previewed what to expect as far as competiton at quarterback, now it’s time to move on to the running backs.

Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood are entrenched at the top two spots at running back, and won’t have to worry about their jobs being up for grabs. Ovie Mughelli isn’t going anywhere as well as far as the starting fullback position goes. Meaning that leaves probably two roster spots open to the rest of the team.

Most likely to grab one of those spots is Jason Snelling, who offers versatility both to play either fullback or running back. Snelling’s playing time increased as last season wore on, and assuming the coaching staff is still high on him, it’s unlikely he’ll be left out in the cold.

The other spot will come down in a battle between Thomas Brown and Verron Haynes. Brown has the edge, given that he was a draft pick by the team a year ago. Brown gives them another potential option on third downs as well as special teams. Haynes is a bigger back, that like Snelling has played some at fullback in the past, and is a capable receiver and blocker on third downs too.

But Haynes is set to go to trial in September for writing some bad checks when purchasing a car a few years back. And while it’s not a terrible black eye, it’s not likely to grant Haynes any favors when it comes down to roster decision time.

Snelling’s ability to play either running spot means the team only really has to keep four backs when most NFL teams keep five. But the fifth back is more likely to be Brown if one is kept. The team also still has the option of throwing Brown on the practice squad if need be.

Brian McIntyre of FalconInsider.com reports that Falcons guard Harvey Dahl received the most on the team as far as the league’s performance-based pay roll. Annually, the league rewards players with low salaries that earn significant playing time.

Dahl earned the most on the team with $255,938. He started every game at right guard after having earned $445,000 in his regular base salary.

Second on the list was right tackle Tyson Clabo, who pocketed $254,297 adding to his $445,000 base salary as well.

FalconInsider.com lists ten other players’ extra payouts:

Kroy Biermann, DE – $162,469
Justin Blalock, OG – $144,273
Harry Douglas, WR – $112,217
Brent Grimes, CB – $189,409
Chris Houston, CB – $139, 921
Chevis Jackson, CB – $122,031
Justin Peelle, TE – $123,329
Marcus Pollard, TE – $1,386
Jason Snelling, RB – $121,308
Coy Wire, LB – $113,837

Pollard’s was the lowest on the team.

Unlike quarterback, running back doesn’t feature any prime time battles. The first two spots on the depth chart are pretty secure barring injury. Michael Turner will open the season as the team’s starter, with Jerious Norwood serving as a reserve.

Turner was paid $34.5 million to come here from San Diego as LaDainian Tomlinson’s backup to be the Falcons starter. Turner has a solid blend of size and speed. Able to hit the homerun with his impressive straight-line speed, as well as run over tacklers due to his low center of gravity and strong lower body. In that way, he is similar to a blend of a young Warrick Dunn in Jamal Anderson’s body. The Falcons hope that Turner can be a workhorse in Atlanta. He had very impressive numbers in San Diego, but played mostly in garbage time there. The team hopes that Turner can now translate that production into a bona fide NFL feature back.

By all accounts, Norwood has been underutilized by the two previous coaching staffs. Norwood is a top speed back, able to bust loose for a big run anytime he touches the ball. Those types of players aren’t very numerous in the NFL, and many believe that the past coaching staffs have not taken advantage enough of this ability. One of the issues has been Norwood’s durability. His lanky frame hasn’t shown an ability to hold up to the punishment of the NFL. Too often last season he lingered on the turf after a hit from a defender, and a hit that wasn’t perceived to be that big of a deal at the moment. Norwood has polished hands, and has really improved his pass blocking in recent years, making him an ideal option on third downs. But it remains to be seen if the coaching staff will give him more opportunities besides passing downs.

The only real battle of significance this summer will be between rookie Thomas Brown and second year man Jason Snelling for the third running back position. Brown was a sixth round pick this year, and Snelling a seventh rounder last year. Snelling had a very impressive summer and even showed some ability late in the season. He’s a big back that showed he has potential as a short-yardage runner. Brown is smaller and has home run speed, and essentially the pair form their own little power-speed combination like Turner and Norwood deeper on the depth chart. But more than likely only one will stay. And not only will their rushing success this summer determine that, who can contribute the most on special teams will also help. Snelling was effective in special teams coverage at Virginia, while Brown showed some ability as a return threat.

After them, there really isn’t much expectation from the rest of the backs. Jamar Brittingham is the only other runner on the roster and isn’t expected to make the team. However, Brittingham does have an opportunity to be a potential practice squad player. He’s a smaller back with a similar frame to Norwood. He was highly productive in Division II, rushing for nearly 5700 yards in four seasons. He also may get a chance to work as a returner on special teams.

At fullback, in relative terms the roster seems pretty much set. Ovie Mughelli will be uncontested as the starter. One of hte legue’s top lead blockers, the Falcons hope to get him more involved offensively increasing his reps.

Behind him is last year’s special teams captain Corey McIntyre. Due to his ability in that area, it’s a long shot that the team could cut McIntyre, although a slim possibility. The Falcons may try to move Snelling to this position. And if Snelling can show some potential as a lead blocker this summer, he has a slim chance to unseat McIntyre. McIntyre is a solid blocker in the mold of Mughelli, but Snelling offers a much more versatile offensive weapon due to his running and receiving skills.

The Battles

Brown vs. Snelling – This will likely get the most press during the summer.
Snelling vs. McIntyre? – It remains to be seen if this battle becomes real, but could be one of the more interesting ones all summer.

The Falcons will likely keep five running backs. Normally, they would keep three runners and two blockers, but Snelling’s versatility could make it so that he counts as both a runner and blocker. Snelling, Brown, and Brittingham are all eligible for the practice squad.

With their final pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, the Falcons selected Virginia running back Jason Snelling with the 244th overall pick in the seventh round.

Snelling (5’11″ 232) has good speed (4.56) and is considered a combo fullback and tailback. He played mostly the former at Virginia, but starred as the team’s tailback and lead rusher as a senior. He had 772 yards on 183 carries (4.2 avg) and 7 scores that season, as well as 29 catches for 282 yards (9.7 avg). In his two previous years as the starting fullback, he combined for 514 yards on 84 carries (6.1 avg) and 24 receptions. As a freshman, he also rushed 9 times for 38 yards (4.2 avg) and caught 31 passes for 4 touchdowns. For his career, he also recorded 16 tackles on special teams and recovered 4 fumbles. Snelling suffers from epilepsy and missed most of the 2003 season due to dizziness.

Snelling will likely get a chance to work as the Falcons short-yardage runner, and also may receive reps as a backup fullback behind Ovie Mughelli.