The Falcons confirmed the release of veteran kicker Jason Elam and long snapper Bryan Pittman Tuesday afternoon in a move that will replace two of the three key members on the team’s field goal unit.
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and UFL kicker Matt Bryant was signed to replace Elam while former Jaguar Joe Zelenka takes over snapping duties.
Bryant, 34, hasn’t played in the NFL in 2009, but hit 32 of 38 kicks last year in Tampa Bay. He was 11-of-14 on field goals and 23-of-23 on extra points with the Florida Tuskers of the UFL this season. He’s played in 94 career games with the Giants, Bucs, Colts and Dolphins.
Bryant is 138-of-168 (82 percent) on field goals and 181-of-185 on extra points. He also has the second-longest game-winning field goal on record — a 62-yarder to beat the Eagles in 2006.
An 11-year veteran, Zelenka has also spent time with the Redskins and 49ers. He didn’t miss a regular season game from 2000 to 2008. The 6-foot-3, 260-pounder set a Jaguars team record with 128 consecutive games played. With Zelenka snapping, Jacksonville had its best statistical season on field goals — 26-of-32 by Josh Scobee.
Elam, 39, missed at least one kick in the last five games and is 12-of-19 for the season.
The 17-year veteran spent 29 games in his native Atlanta after signing a free agent deal before the 2008 season. He spent the first 15 years of his career in Denver where he earned three Pro Bowl invites. Elam entered the year ranked fifth in NFL history in field goals made and points.
Pittman was the team’s second long snapper of the season, joining the team Nov. 5 when Mike Schneck was placed on injured reserve.
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45 Comments
Thank you Falcons, now I see we are’nt just waiting till next year. We still have a good shot at the playoffs. Lets go Falcons, win out.
I can finally take a deep breath….good riddance!!
Exactly. I was tired of losing games cause of Elam. Now We can at least get that part of the game down. Thanks Management!
Aye!!! Thats great man. I kinda wished this would have happened a couple weeks ago. NOW IF WE CAN PUT GRIMES N HOUSTON IN A PACKAGE THATLL BE WONDERFUL!
Be careful what you pray for, it will come to pass. Now let’s pray he finds another job.
look i hope the best for elam hes a great person but he cost the falcons 3 games this year now can we make a trade for a da— corner please
how bout you go pick up some corners i dont care if they dont know the scheme they might turn around and look for the damn ball
no 1 gonna take our corners lol
That is awesome to see TD being proactive. However if the Saints can pick up Mike Mckenzie (he made an impact last night)why do we still have Brent Grimes and other small corners? I know he was proably not a good fit but he could not have been worse than what we have.
@Luis
Elam was killing me, but to be fair 12 INT’s a banged up O-line and backfield and a defensive secondary that couldn’t cover high school receivers isn’t helping.
THANKK THE LORDDD… i’ve been waiting for the organization to get rid of Elam since week 1 or 2 when he missed two fied goals and a extra point
Should have brought back Morten!!!!
And jesus, Mckenzie was a monster last night, we should have picked him up instead of Brain Williams
It’s about time people realized how important a good kicker is. Last year Elam was fantastic and got praise for it, but not enough. People fail to realize that Elam’s stellar performance last year won us at least 3 games (or kept us in games that we eventually won). That’s the difference between 8-8 and 11-5. (Think back on Chicago, Tampa, San Diego, Green Bay, Minnesota, and St. Louis, he made big kicks in all of those games). Now think about the misses in Carolina, New York, and New Orleans. I am confident that we would be 7-4 at worst and possibly 8-3 if Elam’s numbers mirrored last season.
remember Grimes was on fire when he first took the field. After a few weeks of practice with the defensive coaches he sucks just as bad as Houston. We need a backs coach not new backs.
Man oh man people! When I saw Mckenzie out there last night owning Patriot WR’s it made me so flippin mad! WE had a chance at both those dudes man all we had to do is go get them. Ill tell you this. We would have won the Cowboy,Giant, and Carolina games if we had CB’s!
We need a secondary if we gonna win a superbowl, and we need everyone healthy we have a great team just need minor word, our secondary isn’t stopping anything, that should be top priority in the draft or some trading.
I think the Falcons have lost some of their identity they had last year. This year we play not to lose and yet try to give it away. Redman in one game resembled what Ryan was last year. Not that he completed every pass but that He took chanes deep found the check down not always Gonz.
All you Elam bashers can’t seem to remember how he helped this team make the playoffs last year. He has had an incredible career that has lasted 17 years and he should keep his head up and be proud of what he has accomplished. With that being said he is in the NFL and is paid a lot of money and must perform to make the big bucks. But for those of you that think our record is what it is ONLY because of Jason Elam’s performance have rocks in your heads. I know the Elam family and one thing is for sure….he is a great man/father/humanitarian with a great NFL record and you Elam bashers need to get a life!
@Shawn
glassdaddy,
i’m with you 100%, young corners who are always in the right position off of their athlethic ability but are missing the coaching. emmitt thomas is a hall of fame player, i played ball, but anyone can see that these corners are not locating the ball in the air. So, that might mean that emmitt is not very effective at getting his point across, as far as the nuances of playing corner at the nfl level.
as far as grimes he always should have a roster spot on the falcons, he is ball player. He shouldn’t be a starting db, but a special teams player, nickel or dime back. he is athlethic and he FORM TACKLES!
Well Centric I must say if we were punching it in the endzone as we should we wouldnt have to rely on Elam as much. Championship teams don’t get there on their kicker alone. Once again I say we need coaching changes not player changes and I dont mean Mike Smith I am talking about his supporting cast.
glassdaddy,
i’m with you 100%, young corners who are always in the right position off of their athlethic ability but are missing the coaching. emmitt thomas is a hall of fame player, i played ball, but anyone can see that these corners are not locating the ball in the air. So, that might mean that emmitt is not very effective at getting his point across, as far as the nuances of playing corner at the nfl level.
as far as grimes he always should have a roster spot on the falcons, he is ball player. He shouldn’t be a starting db, but a special teams player, nickel or dime back. he is athlethic and he FORM TACKLES!
Well Centric I must say if we were punching it in the endzone like we should be doing we would not have to rely so much on Elam. Championship teams dont get there on their kicker alone which leads me back to we dont need new players we need a new coaching staff. I am not talking about Mike Smith i am referring to his staff.
Yes, finally. Let’s get tough and make this run and take some momentum into the playoffs. If we play everyone as hard as we played New Orleans in the second half of that game we’ll be in the mix.
Thank god! It was obvious with his play that he didnt want to be here or win. GO BIRDS
I’m glad that DJ is back however the rest of our team is hurt. I hope that we defy the odds and win out!! We’ve got to remember that even though Jason Elam did very well last year, it does’nt account for this year and therefore “What have you done for me Lately”? Go FALCONS!!
But if you look at it as what have you done for me lately Ryan should be gone Abraham should be gone hell most of the team should be in the unemployment line. Its not one or two players the whole team is playing not to lose instead of playing to win
You will have to excuse me but… for those who suddenly think that the release of Elam is some ray of sunshine from above, you may want to check the soles of your shoes for holes.
Elam may well have been in a slump but kick for kick, he was and is the best kicker by record on the market right now. You may now hope he doesn’t return to kick us out of the playoffs in another uniform.
That is the nature of this insect called football… that good personnel will be released not for what they have done or what they may yet do… but for what they did the last two weeks.
Good thing we don’t judge Matt Ryan by the same standard, huh?
we need new corners, release abraham, and ithink well be fine. shouldnt have released elam. tey shoulda signed matt and alow elam to do the long bombs during playoffs
@Falcon55
I totally agree with you. Our DB’s are horrible. Our line was banged up and Matt wasn’t playing good ball. Remember this is his second year and we all assumed he wouldn’t have that Sophmore Slump! He was pulling out of it against the Giants and I feel he would’ve done will against Tampa. He’s hurt so now I will stand behind Redman! I hope we get better DB’s next year but right now I am focused on 2009 and our playoff push. Come on Falcons Nation. Let’s stay together. True fans are there Through the Good and the Bad!
Go Falcons!
This is good news about Elam being released, people we need to remember that this is a business. So what, he HAD all those great seasons with the Broncos (remember the word HAD) they must have seen something to allow him to become a free agent. I am sure he is a nice person/father/ and whatever as one person said earlier and that we all must have rocks in our heads if we think it is all Elams fault we are loosing, no we don’t think it is all Elams fault but we have to start eliminating problems and I applaud the Falcons for doing that.
If I was performing poorly on my job repeatedly and not coming through in the clutch I would be released, like I said it is a business and that is that. The damage is done and now if we can make up for some of these errors that have cost us 3 or more games and others loose we are still in the hunt.
When Blank bought the Falcons he said he was going to build a winning team and I think he is on the right path as long as he can and wants to stay in the hunt he may have to bring out the bigger guns (wallets) to get top players to join the organization so we can be a Super Bowl Winner.
Look at what the Saints have done the last 2 or 3 years they keep adding key players and not just their starters but 2nd string can pick up where the first string guys left off at. We are kind of like them with talent we just need to add the right pieces to the puzzle and the Falcons are there. I think if we have to concentrate on building the DB’s and Offensive Line and get Some Pass Rushers and the Falcons are complete. I also think that the DB’s coach needs to be released or at least tells these guys YOU HAVE TO TURN YOUR HEADS AND LOOK FOR THE BALL WHILE DEFENDING. I have yet to see any of our players while running down the field defending turn their heads to see where the ball is and this is noticed by everyone even the announcers.
Give grimes a job selling hotdogs at the dome and go find someone over 5′3″ to cover 6′3″ receivers. And while ur at it, start throwing screen passes out of the back field more often. Turner, Snelling and Norwood can pick up 5-8 yards EVERYTIME on that play! BTW, LATER ELAM you shankapotamous!
Well…sorry mr.Elam but we’ve got to move on, you have proven not to be dependable when it comes down to the wire, when we need just that extra point to win a game, you just simply can’t bring it home.. This is a brilliant move by the Falcons team management, i commend them for this.
YYYYEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!
hallajleh… arther blank and mike smith… I LOVE U… we needed to make this change 6 weeks ago… how many games has elam cost us this season!!!! he should be retired!!!!
Thank God!!!!! Elam sucks! When are tryouts, I played soccer in college, I could kick better than that loser! And Jay Feely is the one we need to get back! Mort’s too old.
3 weeks too late. Good riddance!
aint a 1 of yall could kick an extra point if u were kicking off a tee and nobody else was on the field!!!!!!u cant call 1 play even if the the other teams not on the field.u couldnt defend a pass even if nobody was throwing one.show some class theses people, their friends and their familys might be reading the post.how would u like it if all the sudden u started burning the fries at work and mcdonalds told u that their going have to let u go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
good bye jason elam thank god he was getting on my nerves
Man sometimes when a team lets go a player a pro like they would call themselves u got 2 wonder ,our corners need 2 watch tape on how 2 b a CB stop watchin WR just catch the Dam ball maybe the secondary coach needs 2 b changed an #55 needs some help we need 2 play with a sense of urgentancy 4 60mins not just the 4th Qt
Preach Ron thats what i’m talkin about Db’s watch the Dam ball also a Passrusher man we missed out on Sharper man he still gat it even Ty law an Peterson after wk 1 what have he done
Really
Really i’m waitin 4 the draft hopin #83 is healed up tuner is 100% heathy we get just D-fence an look after Merrian i don’t think the chargers will resign him i’m just frustated an Ryan go an work out Pennington Manning he is the best Mattie ICE u owe us that much Dirty 4 LIFE
Hey I like Jason Elam he has had a great career but he has not been stepping up this year. The Falocns had to let him go. glassdaddy I understand what you are saying about punching it in from the redzone. For the most part the Falcons have done that this year. I don’t understand why you believe that Ryan and Abraham should be cut. There are other players that would deserve to get cut way before either of those two. Both of those player are still good. But no team no matter how good they are will score a touchdown every time. Thats why teams need a good kicker. Many games and Championships have been won because of kickers. Name me a team that has never had to settle for a feild goal attemp at sometime. I am not saying Elam is the only reason the Falcons have lost there year. But leaving points on the field will not help you win the close games.
Gotta remember that McKinzie called the Saints, not the other way around. It is very possible that the Falcons contacted him with a tryout invite, but were turned down ’cause McKinzie wasn’t interested in playing then.
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[...] With their playoff hopes dangling in the breeze, the Falcons ran out of patience Tuesday, cutting loose the veteran kicker and signing former Tampa Bay kicker Matt Bryant. [...]