The Atlanta Falcons already have a crowded tight end room. They have the recently-extended Kyle Pitts leading things, and will have Austin Hooper and Charlie Woerner as his primary backups. And since the Falcons are going to run a lot of 12 and 13 personnel, they need TE depth behind them.
That's where undrafted rookie Jack Velling comes in. Velling is likely competing with Joshua Simon to be Atlanta's TE4, which only matters if Kevin Stefanski chooses to roster a fourth tight end. If not, the alternative is spending the season on the practice squad where he'll only his shot if someone ahead of him gets hurt--and he still has to beat out Simon.
So his hopes of making the Week 1 roster at a loaded position were already slim, but they just took an even bigger hit. The Falcons reportedly just signed free agent tight end Nick Muse, who is another player Velling will have to compete with in order to potentially make the roster.
The #Falcons have signed FA TE Nick Muse, who had just been with the #Lions. He spent last season with the #Jets, #Rams, and #AZCardinals. pic.twitter.com/7coy3uNpJc
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 11, 2026
The Atlanta Falcons signing Nick Muse is bad news for UDFA Jack Velling
Compared to the 22-year-old, Muse has a lot more NFL experience. The 2022 seventh-round pick spent three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, and has also had stints on the practice squads with the Eagles, Cardinals, Jets, Rams, and Lions. In journeyman terms, he's been around the block.
Meanwhile, Velling doesn't have a single snap of NFL experience to his name. And of the several undrafted free agents Atlanta signed, his prorated guarantee was incredibly small. He got just $10,000 in guaranteed money, which marked the fifth-least out of any UDFA they brought in.
Comparatively speaking, QB Jack Strand and WR Vinny Anthony, two of the UDFAs with the best chance of cracking the Dirty Birds' Week 1 roster, received guarantees of $262,500. It doesn't seem like the Falcons see him as any more than a camp body, and he certainly isn't in their long-term plans.
Velling has hauled in a couple of receptions in training camp, but it isn't enough to make this coaching staff gush about his potential. The Michigan State product also spent the last two seasons in one of the worst football programs in the nation--but he caught eight TDs with Oregon State back in 2023.
There is upside, but if the Falcons had Velling in their long-term plans, he would have pulled away from Simon at some point. And considering they signed Muse in the first place, it doesn't sound like he or Simon have been as advertised.
The fact of the matter is that Jack Velling was likely never making the Atlanta Falcons' roster, and all the signing of Nick Muse did was guarantee the inevitable--even though he hasn't been cut yet.
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