The Falcons released defensive end Willie Evans, tight end Ben Hartsock and cornerback Von Hutchins Tuesday afternoon.
Hartsock and Hutchins were free agent acquisitions before the 2008 season. Hartsock started 11 games before going on injured reserve while Hutchins missed the year after hurting his foot during training camp.
“They did a nice job while they were here but it was a football decision that we made and we’re going to be making a lot more decisions as we move down to our 53-man roster through the weekend,” Head Coach Mike Smith said after Tuesday’s practice.
Hartsock caught three passes for 26 yards as a Falcon, bringing his career total to 27 grabs for 273 yards. Known primarily for his blocking, the five-year vet helped pave the way for the league’s second-best running game in 2008.
Hutchins was working at cornerback and safety for Atlanta through Russell Falcons Training Camp.
A veteran of three NFL teams, the Ole Miss product has 16 starts to his credit (38 games), 142 tackles and two interceptions.
Evans was in his second season with the Falcons after joining the team in January 2008. He was waived at the end of 2008 training camp but re-signed to the practice squad in November, where he spent the remainder of the season.
The moves, coupled with the addition of cornerback Tye Hill, leave the Falcons with 73 players on the active roster. The team must be at 53 players on or before Saturday.
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15 Comments
Hartsock was a surprise move. I thought he did relatively well in blocking when he was available last year, but at the same time we’re deep at TE and he was just the first of many numbers casualties, unfortunately.
Hutchins was evidently the weakest link in the DBs. That and maybe his injury just slowed him down too much. Best of luck to all 3 men.
i just wanna say one last thing, i say great move getting those 3 cancers off the squad. they were just slowing us down, and i thought derrick mason retired.??apairently NOT HE IS ANOTHER BRETT FAVRE saying im done ,and then coming outta retirement.
Tye Hill was a bad ass db when he was at Clemson. If not for a few injuries, he might be looking more valuable on the block than he does right now. we need more than a collection of warm bodies, and Hill needs a new horizon and new beginning. Hopefully, this gravel will pan into gold.
I’m glad that we got Ty Hill because we really did need help in our secondary, but I’m sadden by the releasing of Ben Hartsock I thought he could have helped us out a lot in the run game. Von Hutchins was not even in the DB rotation so that is not no surprise to me that he is gone and I had not even heard of Wille Evans. I hope that Shockley and Brown make the cut though both of them could be good players down the road.
best of luck to the three players, but business is business, its time to chop 20 more, JA98, CH23, Decoud28, see you when I see you. PEACE
What about the punt returner, we need some explosiveness
@Tiger should play
I concur…..I dont like Norwood doing punt returns anymore……seen him last year & ofcourse in this years preseason games…..he’s not that explosive as Harry D + his current skill sets are more inclined towards RB.
Well the deadline is getting closer.
Lets go dirty birds!!!!!!!, Move the chains, move the chains, move the chains, MOVE.
anybody that wears the falcons jersey is not a cancer, they are top athletes who made it into the nfl with lots of hard work and dedication, yes it was a smart move, because of the abundant talent in this atl roster, but calling them cancer is ignorant.@johnny D.
i say chris owens can most likely start at CB hes not doing bad at all.
brent grimes has the moves but about a foot too short.If you start him it would be sure suicide. falcons 0-1 For some reason other than primetime(dion sanders) the falcons draft the worst secondary year in and year out.Snelling should be our no.2 tailback he runs hard.norwood is fast but if the first defensive player he came in contact with was a feather he would fall down.
WE NEED BETTER CORNERBACKS, THE WAY WE PLAY IN THE LAST GAME WAS UGLY, WHAT ARE WE DOING OUT THERE , LET THEM COMPLET THE PASS THEN PUSS THEM OUT OF BOUNCE,WOW, JUST UGLY.. YES WE CAN SCORE POINTS BUT WE CAN’T STOP THE OTHER TEAMS FROM SCORING ALSO
@clyde johnson
YES BRENT GRIMES GOT TO GO SORRY BRENT THIS IS FOOTBALL NOT THE TWO STEP
Brent, Jamal Must Go! Form starting to cut.. These two guys just don’t got it…. T. Decoud is good… He’s going to be solid…. Lets bundle chris houston and Mike jenkins in a trade for the guy in houston.. Duanta Robinson…