Falcons release former first-rounders Anderson, Jenkins

 

Jamaal Anderson got one of his 4.5 sacks last season against Seattle. (Associated Press).

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

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369 comments Add your comment

bgfalcon

July 29th, 2011
1:16 pm

great now we need to get a db

jofjonesboro

July 29th, 2011
1:16 pm

“Anderson taken eighth overall in the 2007 drafted and never blossomed in to the sackmaster that the Falcons envisioned when he was selected.”

Have you folks ever heard of proofreading?

jj

PMC

July 29th, 2011
1:16 pm

Woooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

UGA 1999

July 29th, 2011
1:16 pm

The other shoe will drop tomorrow.

PMC

July 29th, 2011
1:16 pm

Ray Edwards is a Falcon

DawgsnFalcons

July 29th, 2011
1:16 pm

nobody: Well he said that they have signed Ray Edwards and Asomugha. I didn’t hear Asomugha’s name. LOL and Ray Edwards wasn’t a stretch. The question now is, how much are they paying for Edwards?

Collin

July 29th, 2011
1:17 pm

Haha I couldn’t Imagine we’d have room for “the other shoe” in our cap man..

UGA 1999

July 29th, 2011
1:17 pm

DawgsnFalcons….good job back peddling.

DawgsnFalcons

July 29th, 2011
1:18 pm

UGA 1999: If you’re right I’ll owe you a huge apology. I have to say the Edwards thing isn’t a shock. It’s obvious but I’m still not convinced that they can afford Asomugah unless they plan to not sign Blalock or Dahl and Matt Ryan and Dunta are restructuring their contracts or something.

chc4

July 29th, 2011
1:19 pm

Interesting. Was hoping we could get Osi from the Giants. But at least we got somebody.

Columbus

July 29th, 2011
1:19 pm

Hey I trust Glazer. Thanks for you being a tweeter DawgsnFalcons! I am a Dawg n Falcon myself!Man, that will help the D tremendously. FINALLY pressure from both sides and hopefully some up the middle too. Man with our offense, if we keep our DB’s, we will be very strong contenders and as good as ANYBODY. Falcons are ran so much better since Blank bought the team. Good job TD.

bgfalcon

July 29th, 2011
1:19 pm

uga1999 how do you know that the falcons will get nmandi?

I hope UGA1999 is right GUY

July 29th, 2011
1:21 pm

UGA1999, is the other shoe Nnamdi? And does that mean Grimes at the Nickel. . you know, the spot that Chris Owens previously occupied and got us murdered in the playoffs at. That spot?

jgeezy29

July 29th, 2011
1:21 pm

It don’t matter who falcons put in secondary. They still don’t have a pass rush

Falcon Fan

July 29th, 2011
1:22 pm

Boom! Welcome Ray Edwards!!!!!

Nique

July 29th, 2011
1:23 pm

Jay Glazer reports we just signed Ray Edwards!!!

Columbus

July 29th, 2011
1:23 pm

No pass rush? Can you say Abraham and Edwards?

Rip

July 29th, 2011
1:23 pm

790thezone is reportng that we have singed Ray Edwards to a 5 year deal

Falcons4Life

July 29th, 2011
1:23 pm

RAYS EDWARDS WELCOME TO ATLANTA RISE UP!!!!! GOOD JOB FALCONS!!!!

terrance X

July 29th, 2011
1:23 pm

NFL Network just reported that Ray Edwards has signed a 5year deal with the Falcons !

Rip

July 29th, 2011
1:24 pm

How much will it cost us

terrance X

July 29th, 2011
1:24 pm

r u complainers satisfied !

Columbus

July 29th, 2011
1:24 pm

Asomugha has height at 6-2

UGA 1999

July 29th, 2011
1:25 pm

terrance X

July 29th, 2011
1:25 pm

cost us Rip? r u a part owner ?

Falcons4Life

July 29th, 2011
1:25 pm

Columbus

July 29th, 2011
1:23 pm
No pass rush? Can you say Abraham and Edwards?

YOU DAMN RIGHT!!!

I hope UGA1999 is right GUY

July 29th, 2011
1:25 pm

LOUD and CLEAR. . .What about my question?

Falcons4Life

July 29th, 2011
1:26 pm

SORRY OSI U CAN STAY IN NY!!!!

DawgsnFalcons

July 29th, 2011
1:27 pm

So let’s see how this looks and sounds? Edwards, Jerry, Babineaux and Abraham with Bierman and Peters coming in off the bench. I like the way that sounds. I wonder what this means for Sidbury?

Falcons4Life

July 29th, 2011
1:27 pm

NO I WAS COMMENTING GREAT POST WE GONE KILL THE PASS RUSH THIS YR!!!

UGA 1999

July 29th, 2011
1:28 pm

The blog is not allowing all of my posts to go through.

RAY EDWARDS FAN

July 29th, 2011
1:28 pm

I’M HERE FALCONS RISE UP!!!!!

I hope UGA1999 is right GUY

July 29th, 2011
1:28 pm

Must mean your onto something.

aizdaman

July 29th, 2011
1:30 pm

carlos rodgers is next according to sources

bgfalcon

July 29th, 2011
1:30 pm

is jordan babineaux going to be a FA also?

UGA 1999

July 29th, 2011
1:31 pm

1pm right……I told ya. Wait until you hear what happens tomorrow!

FalconRob

July 29th, 2011
1:32 pm

WOW! Great news about Edwards. For a minute I thought we were going with the guys we had. Another great job by T.D. This year is going to be crazy. Can’t wait to see all the teams in action with all the new players on them. Go Falcons!

DawgsnFalcons

July 29th, 2011
1:32 pm

$30 million over 5 yrs $11 million guaranteed.

UGA 1999

July 29th, 2011
1:32 pm

DawgsFalcons….did we make a wager?

deandrums

July 29th, 2011
1:33 pm

Some really sad drafting in the professional ranks when you start releasing 1st round draft chioces.
Who was that Mc Kay? poor judge of talent…….

Micheal

July 29th, 2011
1:37 pm

Wow, now that is a bargin price, and about half from what Johnson got from Carolina.

J.J.M.

July 29th, 2011
1:37 pm

snelling and dahl to the rams

UGA 1999

July 29th, 2011
1:38 pm

The Deal for Edwards was completed last night around 11:30pm.

DawgsnFalcons

July 29th, 2011
1:40 pm

UGA 1999: Yeah the wager was if you’re right about Asomugha I owe you a huge apology and I am a man of my word so if you’re right you’ll get a very heart felt apology. By the way, I hope you’re right. :-) I think I said that before.

UGA 1999

July 29th, 2011
1:41 pm

There are two more big moves the Falcons will announce over the weekend and possibly tonight.

bgfalcon

July 29th, 2011
1:42 pm

in dimitroff i trust!

Yeah Right

July 29th, 2011
1:44 pm

UGA 1999….what you got a crystal ball? C’mon…you’re on twitter and saw Glazer’s tweet right?

I Wonder

July 29th, 2011
1:45 pm

If we land Asomugha this team is going to be WICKED! Great pass rush, shut down corners, quick LB’s…and if we can cobble together a decent O line…damn oh damn oh damn!

papason100

July 29th, 2011
1:45 pm

UGA1999 how do you have all this info? BTW I hope you are correct :)

bgfalcon

July 29th, 2011
1:46 pm

yeah right… he’s been saying this stuff since 9-10 oclock