There is less than 24 hours until the Atlanta Falcons must cut their final roster down to 53 players. According to a report, the Falcons began trimming their roster Monday with the release of two defensive linemen.
ESPN's Michael Rothstein reports the Falcons cut defensive tackle Eli Ankou and defensive lineman Zac Dawe.
For Ankou, this actually marks the end of his second stint with the team. The Falcons signed Ankou in May but released him a month later. He then spent a month and a half with the Buffalo Bills before the Falcons signed him again on Aug. 18.
Ankou has spent time with eight different teams during his four years in the NFL. He began his career as a undrafted free agent with the Houston Texans in 2017, but just before his rookie season, the Jacksonville Jaguars claimed him off waivers.
With the Jaguars, he played in 11 games from 2017-18, recording 19 combined tackles and 1.5 sacks. In 2019, he appeared in nine games, making two starts for the Cleveland Browns. Last year, Ankou played in seven games for the Dallas Cowboys.
At UCLA, Ankou appeared in 29 games, posting 91 total tackles, including 8.0 for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Dawe is a 26-year-old undrafted rookie from BYU. He played four seasons at BYU after redshirting as a freshman in 2016. In 38 college games, he recorded 81 total tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. During 2020, he had a career-high 43 total tackles and 2.0 sacks.
These two cuts inch the Falcons closer to the 53-player maximum the team must reach at 4 pm ET on Tuesday, Aug. 31. But obviously, there's a lot of cuts still to come over the next day.
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