The Falcons can surprise you in ways both large and small, but most of the time they’re doing that on the field. Cutting Jaylinn Hawkins before the seventh week of the season? That’s that rare off-the-field surprise.
Per NFL reporter Aaron Wilson, the team has released Hawkins on Tuesday, with the 26-year-old safety now looking for a new team unless the Falcons can sneak him back on to the practice squad. My guess is that they didn’t make this move intending to do so, and that even if they did, they won’t have much luck.
#Falcons released Jaylinn Hawkins
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) October 17, 2023
Hawkins didn’t have much of a role this year under new defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen, with DeMarcco Hellams drawing more snaps in two of the past three weeks on defense, but had been a core piece of the puzzle on special teams until this past week.