Roster release day is in full force, and it took until now for the Atlanta Falcons to make their first surprise release. And the man on the chopping block is OT Wanya Morris, whom Atlanta acquired from the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this offseason, expecting him to be their new swing tackle.
The Falcons sent a 2027 sixth-round pick to Kansas City in exchange for Morris and a 2027 seventh-rounder, but this deal quickly looked like Ian Cunningham's first miss. He got injured early on in training camp and has been a non-factor ever since he returned--and was only cut since they weren't able to trade him.
This is a message from the new regime that nobody--even new trade pickups--is safe if they don't earn their roster spot, but that's not all. The Falcons were auditioning both Michael Jerrell and rookie Ethan Onianwa this offseason, but now that Morris is gone, they're both likely making the final roster.
Ethan Onianwa is back on the right side of the Falcons' roster bubble
The faith in Jerrell isn't particularly surprising given he's excelled in practice at both tackle spots. But Onianwa is the more interesting case study since his hot start to training camp saw him get first-team reps in lieu of the then-injured Jawaan Taylor, but things crashed and burned once Taylor returned.
As expected, the seventh-round pick mainly operated as the second-team right tackle, but preseason didn't go his way. According to Pro Football Focus, he logged a dismal 39.1 pass blocking grade in the preseason, as he kept getting beat by NFL pass-rushers with more refined arsenals.
For a late-round draft throw, the 23-year-old looked like someone who didn't belong on an NFL field. To be fair, you would expect acclimation process to take a while, especially when facing Jonathon Cooper and an elite Broncos' pass-rush, but he was a net negative in every area except run blocking.
The rough preseason would've made it easy for the Dirty Birds to cut bait with Onianwa. He has the size and there are reasons to be optimistic, but requires a lot more development, so the logical move would've been to stash him on the practice squad so Bill Callahan can help him refine his game a bit.
That would've made it so the Falcons wouldn't have had to rush things with the Ohio State standout, but Morris' release has confirmed that won't happen. Brandon Walton is now gone too, so it looks like Jerrell will be the backup left tackle while Onianwa starts off his career as the backup right tackle.
The Falcons were in a position where they could've easily kept Wanya Morris and released Ethan Onianwa with no reservations, but releasing Morris has confirmed that the rookie is still in their roster plans despite some preseason struggles--likely since Callahan still believes in his potential.
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