With NFL rosters having to be trimmed from 85 to 80 by p.m. Tuesday, the Atlanta Falcons had big roster decisions to make in a short amount of time, following a quick turnaround from playing in Monday night's preseason game against the New York Jets.
Per release, the Falcons cut receivers Geronimo Allison and Auden Tate, defensive back Lafayette Pitts and linebacker Kuony Deng. Additionally, Atlanta waived defensive linemen Jalen Dalton with an injury designation.
If Dalton isn't claimed by another team, he'll return to the Falcons and be placed on injured reserve. Unless Dalton and the team reach agreement on an injury settlement, his season will be over with.
The injury comes at the worst possible time for Dalton, who has seen snaps with the first and second-team defense throughout the last few weeks of practice and received the start against New York, posting a tackle-for-loss in 16 snaps.
Atlanta's decision to release Allison and Tate don't come as huge surprises - both turned in lackluster efforts throughout the preseason. However, the fact that neither panned out is a disappointing development for a Falcons offense still in need of depth at receiver.
Still, the writing was on the wall for both. In total, 15 players saw targets, and Tate wasn't one of them. In the opener, he saw just two targets, hauling one in for a gain of seven.
Throughout training camp, Tate has largely worked on the second field, away from the starting groups. Considering he was viewed as a potential starter when Atlanta initially signed him, Tate's experienced quite the downfall.
Meanwhile, Allison had a ho-hum game against Detroit, hauling in a 20-yard reception but dropping a catchable ball. He saw just one target against the Jets and couldn't bring it in. Once looking like the biggest "arrow-up" player in Atlanta's receiver room, Allison's stock took a nosedive as preseason games began.
Deng, a rarely built linebacker at 6-6, 240 pounds, signed with the Falcons as an undrafted free agent out of Cal. He made two tackles against Detroit but didn't record any statistics against the Jets.
Pitts, who has no relation to Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts, spent half of last season on the Falcons' practice squad. The 29-year-old has bounced around six teams since entering the league as an undrafted free agent in 2016.
He had four total tackles and a pass defended through the two preseason contests but was flagged for pass interference against the Jets.
The Falcons have to trim the roster from 80 to 53 by next Tuesday, with the final preseason contest sandwiched in between, as the team hosts the Jacksonville Jaguars at 3 p.m. Saturday.
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