The Falcons have begun trimming down their roster to the required 53, and news of the cuts has begun to trickle out via Twitter accounts from across the league.
Among the initial cuts reported to have been made--and keep in mind that none of this has been made official yet--are CB Dominique Franks, OLB Spencer Adkins, TE LaMark Brown, C Tyler Horn, DT Conrad Obi, and LB Pat Schiller:
A bit of a surprise:
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 31, 2012#Falcons release CB Dominique Franks, I'm told. Had been their No. 1 punt returner. Will get plenty of interest.
Falcons cut linebacker Spencer Adkins, per a league source
— Aaron Wilson (@RavensInsider) August 31, 2012
Brown and Horn broke the news of their release personally, via their own accounts:
Very grateful for the opportunity the Atlanta Falcons organization gave me and I wanna thank the fans for all of the support...
— LaMark Brown (@LBrown_85) August 31, 2012
Well
— Tyler Horn (@Tyler63Horn) August 31, 2012@atlanta_falcons it's been a lot of fun. I appreciate the opportunity and privilege to participate in an NFL training camp. Thank you.
Franks is easily the most surprising name on this list. A fifth-round pick in 2010, he was expected to make a run at the punt returning job and fill in as a reserve cornerback, but poor coverage in the preseason was his undoing.
Brown should see a practice offer, given his high upside at tight end, with Tommy Gallarda in all likelihood being kept around as the No. 3 tight end. Unless, of course, the Falcons do something wild like signing Chris Cooley.
The Falcons now sit at 69 players, meaning they have 16 more cuts to make, and that's not even considering any potential trades the team could make before the cut deadline, so stay tuned.
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