Newly acquired veteran safety Chris Hope told the AJC that he chose to join the Falcons in part because the team has "all the keys" to make a Super Bowl run, something Hope was a part of with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008.
"They are serious about not just being a good football team. They want to be the best football team. Going out and getting Asante Samuel and signing the guys back from last year was big. Matt Ryan is a great quarterback. [Michael] Turner is a great running back. They have two high-powered receivers in Roddy White and the young guy from Alabama [Julio Jones]. They have all the tools and the keys to be a Super Bowl contender."
Hope will arrive to shore up what's been at times a shaky secondary, and while he might not start, he'll add depth along with rookie Charles Mitchell from Mississippi State. While Asante Samuel, Brent Grimes and Dunta Robinson are all veterans at corner, safety has been a young position for the Falcons for some years, another reason why a vet like Hope was brought on:
I feel like they have a great secondary with the addition of Asante Samuel, [Dunta] Robinson, [Brent] Grimes and all of those guys are highly touted and elite corners in my opinion. The safeties that they’ve had the last few years are real good and they are young. With my leadership and my veteran experience, I can just come in and help them out with whatever I can. I feel like I can still play at a high-level. But again, I’ll just do whatever they ask me to do.
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