Falcons Bring Back Veteran WR among Several Roster Moves

There were no deadline day trade moves announced, but the Atlanta Falcons made several roster moves on Tuesday.

Linebackers Daren Bates and James Vaughters have been signed to the active roster. Bates and Vaughters had been with the team on the practice squad, but both of them have been elevated to game day rosters.

Per NFL rules, a player is only allowed to do that twice before being signed or released.

Vaughters has played the last two games with the Falcons. He logged 15 and 16 defensive snaps against the Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers respectively.

Linebacker Dorian Etheridge was released. Etheridge is a candidate to go back to the practice squad. An undrafted free agent, Etheridge was a preseason standout including 13 tackles and three tackles for loss in Atlanta's first preseason game against the Tennessee Titans.

The Falcons are also looking for help at wide receiver with the status of Calvin Ridley uncertain as he's stepped away from football. They added former Falcon Marvin Hall to the practice squad.

Hall spent two seasons with the Falcons. In 2017 and 2018 he had 12 catches for 209 yards and two touchdowns for Atlanta. He spent 2019 and parts of 2020 with the Detroit Lions while also playing one game for the Browns last season.

He had an eye-popping 37.3 yards per reception on seven receptions with Detroit in 2019.

In other news, it was reported Tuesday morning that tight end Hayden Hurst was a potential target for the Green Bay Packers. As of 3:50 p.m. on Tuesday against a 4 p.m. trade deadline, no trade deals incoming or outgoing have been reported for the Falcons.