Atlanta Falcons bring back veteran starting safety on one-year deal

A lot of moves have been overshadowed when it comes to the Atlanta Falcons due to all the news about their pursuit of Deshaun Watson and their stunning trade of franchise quarterback, Matt Ryan, to the Indianapolis Colts.

Of those moves is the Falcons resigning one of Terry Fontenot’s first free agency signings.

Atlanta Falcons bring back veteran safety Erik Harris

Many people may have missed it with all the crazy news recently, but the Atlanta Falcons have brought back one of their starting safeties, Erik Harris, on a one-year deal.

It will remain to be seen but one can expect that he is not returning as the starting safety as the Falcons will probably look to get their younger players more snaps, which is the right decision, especially when you consider that this could be a throw-away year for the team.

After all, this team is not going to compete with the roster they currently have and with Marcus Mariota starting at quarterback.

That means that Richie Grant and Jaylinn Hawkins will likely be the starting safeties come August and that would be the best-case scenario as they have the highest upside of any of the Falcons’ current safeties.

This means Erik Harris will provide some decent depth at the position.

What would be even better is having Kyle Hamilton starting at the position, which could happen if he drops to the eighth pick that the Falcons possess.

Hamilton is a generational talent at the safety position, he would bring another unicorn-type player to the Falcons roster, which they sorely need. He could potentially transform the Falcons secondary and provide superb play with A.J. Terrell and Casey Hayward shutting down the outside spots.

It is certainly something that is fun to think about but perhaps the signing of Erik Harris might signal that the Falcons do not think Hamilton will drop far enough for them to draft.