Short-Handed Falcons Sign Former Vikings Pass-Rusher

The Atlanta Falcons head to Buffalo on Sunday to take on the Bills, and they are dangerously short-handed on the front seven.

The Falcons moved linebackers Brandon Copeland and James Vaughters to the reserve/COVID-19 list on Tuesday, leaving just Dante Fowler, Steven Means, and Ade Ogundeji on the depth chart.

The Falcons made a move to remedy that problem with the signing of former Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Jordan Brailford.

At 6-3 and 253 pounds, Brailford would slot into the outside linebacker position in defensive coordinator Dean Pees' 3-4 system. 

Outside linebacker has been a sore spot for the Falcons this season with Fowler leading the team in sacks with 4.5. Rookie Ogundeji is second among Falcons' edge players, and he has just one sack on the season. 

Steven Means has started 12 games for the Falcons, and he has yet to register a sack and has only hit the quarterback twice all season.

Brailford was originally a seventh-round draft pick of the Washington Football Team in 2019 out of Oklahoma State. He spent last season with the Vikings and played in five games.

Brailford led the Big 12 in sacks with 10 in 2018.

The Falcons opened the week as big underdogs to the Bills. SI Sports Book lists Atlanta as 14.5 point underdogs, the Falcons biggest spread of the season. 

Even at full strength, an Atlanta road trip to Buffalo in January looks like a long shot. The Falcons defense has suffered several blows to its depth this week, and Brailford could see himself called into action quickly in his Atlanta Falcons tenure.