
Jamaal Anderson got one of his 4.5 sacks last season against Seattle. (Associated Press).
FLOWERY BRANCH – The Falcons cleared $7.8 million under the salary cap by releasing veteran defensive lineman Jamaal Anderson and wide receiver Michael Jenkins on Friday.
Anderson and Jenkins were both former first-round picks.
Anderson taken eighth overall in the 2007 drafted and never blossomed in to the sackmaster that the Falcons envisioned when he was selected. The Falcons passed on future stars Patrick Willis and Darrelle Revis. Willis, a linebacker, went 11th to San Francisco and Revis, a cornerback, went to the Jets with the 14th pick.
Willis has been to four Pro Bowls and has been named an All-Pro three times. Revis has been to three Pro Bowls and has been named All-Pro two times.
Anderson played in 60 games and made 47 starts, but had just 3.5 sacks (The Falcons officially have him for 3.5 sacks. Pro-Football-Reference.com has him for 4.5 sacks. The Falcons gave the credit for the sack against Seattle to Jonathan Babineaux.)
Jenkins was selected with the 29th pick in the 2004 draft.
He was a mainstay in the offense, but never amassed over 100 yards receiving in a game. He had a career-high 53 catches in 2007 and a career-high in yards of 777 in 2008.
Jenkins’ future was in doubt after the Falcons traded five picks to move up 27 spots in the draft to select wide receiver Julio Jones with the sixth pick of the 2011 draft.
With the extra cap room, the Falcons will likely be able to pursue free-agent defensive end Ray Edwards.
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
369 comments Add your comment
UGA 1999
July 29th, 2011
11:05 am
Stay tuned to ESPN…
Champ Kind
July 29th, 2011
11:05 am
I hope neither one of these losers ever play another down of NFL football again. They were terrible and won’t be missed.
DawgsnFalcons
July 29th, 2011
11:05 am
RedandBlack: I agree with you. Asomugha will not be wearing a Falcons uni. Just doesn’t make sense.
mgdawg
July 29th, 2011
11:06 am
How much room do the falcons have under the cap. It seems like the falcons are sitting still while the patriots, who like the falcons had the best record in their conference and lost in their first playoff game last year, have made two big moves.
DawgsnFalcons
July 29th, 2011
11:08 am
mgdawg: I believe they started out with $13.9 Mil.
Ra'mon
July 29th, 2011
11:10 am
MG, the Falcons can’t take a gamble like the Patriots. Do you see the veteran leadership in NE’s locker room? On offense and defense they have unquestionable leaders. The Falcons’ don’t have that right now.
UGA 1999
July 29th, 2011
11:11 am
Mgdawg…you call getting Haynesworth and OchoNoNO a big deal??? Ha! ok.
A
July 29th, 2011
11:12 am
OK, Asomugha and Edwards would be really AWESOME. Dare I say that my hopes are up a little bit? But, UGA 1999, if you are b.s.’ing us, let me be the first to say may you have intractible diarrhea and gas for the next 6 months.
Dawg fan in Grayson
July 29th, 2011
11:12 am
mgdawg….remember the FA siging doesn’t official start until 6pm. Movements so far were teams signing their own FA or making trades. Pats traded for 2 malcontents that could blow up in their face. Stay tuned
SeenHimHateB4
July 29th, 2011
11:12 am
Reports by Peter King is sugessting that the Falcons are talking trade takes with the Giants about acquiring Osi UmenyiorA….
SeenHimHateB4
July 29th, 2011
11:13 am
It’s going to happen!!!
Jay
July 29th, 2011
11:13 am
UGA 1999 – I’m sorry bud, but you must really like attn because you are full of it. I think the mystery team for Nnamdi is the Bucs. They’ve hardly spent a dime yet and they are way under the cap.
#60
July 29th, 2011
11:15 am
Speaking of the O line watch this kid Paul Fenaroli from Stony Brook he’s big strong and hungry!
falconfever74
July 29th, 2011
11:15 am
do u harry douglas fans remember 2 years ago hoe explosive this guy was in the slot and as a returner. and do you not know that after major knee surgery it takes at least a year before a player is back to old form. i say we sign grimes to a contract sign dahl and wait to see what ahppens on the waiver wire. we dont need to make moves just to see our self on the nfl or espn ticker. not saying we dont need another pass rusher because we do but there is not a free agent de out there thats better than biermann in my opinion
Jay
July 29th, 2011
11:16 am
@ Ra’mon The only veteran presence the Pats have is Tom Brady and maybe you throw in Welker. Not sure who else you are referring to.
Ra'mon
July 29th, 2011
11:16 am
Jay, if the Bucs are the mystery team, that would be the main reason why the Falcons need to get in the race asap, lol. I don’t care if he goes to San Fran or NYJ. But if he goes to Tampa Bay, that is trouble! Remember they drafted two defensive linemen who were top 5 talent.
buzzer
July 29th, 2011
11:16 am
I thought Jenk played the 2nd,3rd rec’vr pretty ok. He had some good catches. Did we just owe him too much? I know he wasn’t a fav. No room in the 3 hole?
BoomBoomJoe
July 29th, 2011
11:16 am
I’ve been reading UGA 1999’s comments, so I called a buddy who’s work closely with the Falcons and He said, that is soooo far from the truth that we are in the Aso”whatever his name is” hunt. So rumor smashed.
SeenHimHateB4
July 29th, 2011
11:16 am
Can you say Osi
DawgsnFalcons
July 29th, 2011
11:16 am
Peterking has reported no such thing.
TLaw
July 29th, 2011
11:17 am
UGA 1999 I’m not going to take a shot at you cause you’re ok with me(UGA FAN and ALUM)but C’MON Man…lol..Although I can say that you have entertained me this morning while at work.
buzzer
July 29th, 2011
11:18 am
Thomas D can evaluate NFL talent thats all ready playn, but college talent not yoo good.
UGA 1999
July 29th, 2011
11:18 am
A: Dude that was really funny.
SeenHimHateB4
July 29th, 2011
11:18 am
Osi will be here soon to rescue the day….Go Falcons…
DawgsnFalcons
July 29th, 2011
11:19 am
Ra’Mon: The Bucs are out they never really were in the race. They tried and got shot down. Asomugha is going to either the Boy’s or the Jets.
UGA 1999
July 29th, 2011
11:19 am
TLaw….I am not going to say much more. The plan for now is 1pm.
Dan
July 29th, 2011
11:19 am
Looking for DE Ray Edwards and CB Carlos Rodgers that would be nice to go along with Grimes and Robinson
Falcons4Life
July 29th, 2011
11:20 am
I agree Osi…..for president!!!+
Terry
July 29th, 2011
11:20 am
According to Viking Update
http://min.scout.com/2/1090000.html
Since the draft, the Falcons and Edwards have been linked. Yet, as the story currently goes, the Falcons not only aren’t going to sign Edwards, there may be something they learned in their due diligence that has turned them off of the free agent defensive end.
According to the bow-tie crowd in Atlanta, the Falcons cooled on the idea of offering Edwards a huge contract and believe his will land in Philadelphia. The Falcons are rumored to be more concerned about spreading money around to sign some of their own UFAs, as opposed to raising the bar on re-signing future free agents by throwing eight figures of guaranteed money at “an outsider” that wasn’t part of their 2010 success.
Falcons4Life
July 29th, 2011
11:21 am
Edwards and Carlos Rogers sounds like a plan!!!
Falcons4Life
July 29th, 2011
11:21 am
That post is old~~~
BoomBoomJoe
July 29th, 2011
11:22 am
UGA 1999: FA’s can’t sign till this evening at 6 p.m. , so why would they hold a news conference at 1 p.m. to announce a signing ,LOL
falconfever74
July 29th, 2011
11:23 am
why no one speaks about talimba hall from kc he had a great year last year
UGA 1999
July 29th, 2011
11:24 am
Falcons4Life….Rogers is not in the mix for Atlanta right now.
Terry
July 29th, 2011
11:24 am
Prized free-agent cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha will choose between signing with the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys, NFL Network insider Michael Lombardi reported Friday.
hawksfancents95
July 29th, 2011
11:25 am
WRs- kevin curtis, johnnie lee higgins, chansi stuckey, brandon stokley they would all be an addition over harry douglas as our slot receiver
DEs- marcus spears, brian robison, ray mcdonald, chris hoke, alan branch
CBs- wow we could really get some good CBs to give us speed and good man coverage, id like to sign two CBs, fabian washinhton, richard marshall, eric wright, phillip buchanon, drayton florence, if we sign fabian washington an phillip buchanon along with dunta robinson and brent grimes we would have the fastest secondary and we’d be able to play a lot o man coverage out of the nickel or dime packages
falconfever74
July 29th, 2011
11:27 am
who is having a 1 p.m. news conference boom boom joe
Ra'mon
July 29th, 2011
11:27 am
Jay, that’s two more than the Falcons right there just on offense. Remember, all of their young players were taught by the older players that retired, or were cut loose. These Falcons haven’t been taught by anyone here really. And Bill B. is a bigger diva than Chad and Haynesworth, lol. That’s another reason that will work.
Falcons4Life
July 29th, 2011
11:27 am
That sounds wack Hawksfansince wheneva
Jay
July 29th, 2011
11:28 am
After hearing Edwards on a few interviews this week I wouldn’t touch that dude with a 50 yard spike. Everyone gets tired of sports cliches, but to just bluntly say you are going where the money is at, to me is a straight up turn off. The Falcons need to work that trade for Osi.
DawgsnFalcons
July 29th, 2011
11:28 am
DLedbetter just tweeted that the Falcons hope to resign Blalock, looks like Dahl could be heading to St. Louis.
UGA 1999
July 29th, 2011
11:29 am
How would everyone feel IF the Falcons signed OSI?
Terry
July 29th, 2011
11:29 am
Falcons4Life, Posted Jul 28, 2011, If one day is old, yes its old.
Jay
July 29th, 2011
11:30 am
@Ra’mon – I agree. Belicheat is what’s going to keep Haynesworth in line. He will put the guy in positions to succeed which will make him happy. Brady will keep Ocho in line.
BoomBoomJoe
July 29th, 2011
11:30 am
falconfever74: I was commenting on a sadly mistaken UGA 1999 who said that the Falcons were having a 1 p.m. news conference to announce they signed Namhdi and Ray Edwards, which is not true or capable of doing.
falconfever74
July 29th, 2011
11:30 am
hawksfancents95 what are u talking about? please make comments about the nba lock out! lol
BoomBoomJoe
July 29th, 2011
11:32 am
I really hope they re-sign Dahl, He adds nastiness to the line
Jay
July 29th, 2011
11:32 am
Enter your comments here
TRS421
July 29th, 2011
11:33 am
Surprised (but not shocked) that Jenkins was cut. Good possession receiver that knew where the chains were.
And yes, I’m a DAWG fan, but I really wish the Falcons had been able to sign Kris Durham as a RFA…thinking he could fill this void at a much cheaper cost.
UGA 1999
July 29th, 2011
11:34 am
BoomBoom…..we shall see…