Six potential Atlanta Falcons on the bubble in training camp

Brian Finneran, AP Photo/John Bazemore

Cutting a player from his roster is one of the most difficult jobs a general manager performs. 

A cut is rarely due to lack of motivation or attitude, more often than not it has more to do with a player's age and that there's a younger option at a position or salary cap-relief implications.

It's been said the average career of an NFL player is three years, which is understandable given free agency and the NFL Draft. Each year teams are trying to get more talented and younger at the same time.

And sometimes a player on the wrong side of 27 can find himself on the bubble simply because of matriculation. 

2009's Atlanta Falcons training camp could be a tough one for the team. The franchise clearly made youth an emphasis and heading into camp most of the positional battles appear to involve younger players. 

There are six players on the roster that may be in danger of being of cut this season despite playing productive roles for the team last year. 

Brian Finneran: The 33-year-old receiver is something of a fan favorite but injuries and incoming players have further removed Finneran from an active part of the game plan since his productive 2005 50-catch campaign. In 2008 he caught 21 passes for 169 yards and one touchdown.

Like a lot of veterans, the one thing Finneran may have going for him compared to other receivers on the roster is his experience. The Falcons are set with their top three guys: Roddy White, Michael Jenkins, and Harry Douglas. After Finneran, however, the NFL experience level drops significantly.

Troy Bergeron has been in and out of the NFL since 2006, but his three years in the AFL were as a standout receiver. The diminutive Eric Weems has been on Atlanta's roster for two seasons and played in six games in '08. Chandler Williams has spent his two seasons in the NFL on the Dolphins and Falcons practice squads. Rookies Aaron Kelly, Bradon Godfrey, and Darren Mougey could all be practice squad potential.

Kelly, a Marietta native, is Clemson's all-time touchdown reception leader and he showed why at the team's minicamp. He showed sure hands and an ability to use his size to catch the ball, a trait for which Finneran was long known. The 6'5", 203 pound receiver has the ability to make the team's roster.

Brent Grimes: The starter at the beginning of the 2008 season, Grimes is a scrappy, hustle-type--the kind of player Head Coach Mike Smith likes. The 5'10" Grimes' career may have been helped last season by the training camp injury of Von Hutchins. Hutchins, signed to the team as a free agent in 2008 by Dimitroff, started 15 of 16 games in 2007 for the Houston Texans, contributing 93 tackles, a 1/2 sack, one interception, and seven passes defensed.

If Chris Houston is penciled in as one starter at corner, the battle in camp for the other starter's role could be between Hutchins, Chevis Jackson, and Chris Owens. The team seems to like Jackson in the nickel role, the position he played in 2008, and Owens was a third-round selection in 2009, a player Dimitroff is very high on.

The race for the fifth corner position on the team would should come down to Grimes and rookie William Middleton. Throughout the offseason Dimitroff has stated his desire to have two complete drafts under his regime and Middleton, selected in the fifth round in 2009, is part of his second draft. The Falcons would likely opt for the youth of Middleton over Grimes. At times in 2008 Grimes looked overmatched against taller receivers.   

Justin Peelle: The 30-year-old Peelle had some positive moments in '08, starting in 11 games once Ben Hartsock was placed on injured reserve in November. The addition of Tony Gonzalez may make one of the two tight ends expendable and Hartsock's strength as a blocker give him the edge behind Gonzalez. Additionally Hartsock is a year younger than Peelle and was one of Dimitroff's hand-picked free agents in '08.

Jason Snelling: Snelling enters his third season with the Falcons and has flashed significant potential during the last two training camps. It would be unlikely for Atlanta to carry more than three running backs on the roster and with Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood assuming the first two, Snelling will be campaigning with second-year running back Thomas Brown for the final spot.

This could be one of the more difficult decisions the coaching staff has to make. A third running back often will need to be capable of filling other roles on the team and both of these players do. Brown looked to have the edge in '08 as a rookie because of his solid play, but also his return ability. His season ended in the preseason with an injury, making last year's decision easy. In addition to running back, Snelling could also serve as a backup fullback, a position he played in college at Virginia.

Coy Wire: There may not be a player that Falcons fans will cheer for more in training camp than Wire. He's an inspiring football player and a good human being. He's also a player the NFL Network is following in its 'On the Fringe' series. Wire found himself as the starter late last year and performed well. His play on special teams is what he's known for around the league and earned him a team captain title in '08.

There are currently nine linebackers on the roster and of those nine, Stephen Nicholas, Mike Peterson, and Curtis Lofton are the only guarantees. 2009 sixth-round selection Spencer Adkins will probably be safe too because the team sees potential in him as a pass rusher. That leaves Wire, Edmond Miles, Tony Gilbert, Rashad Bobino, and Robert James. Wire and Gilbert, at 29 and 30, are the oldest of the bunch and Dimitroff and Smith have made no secret their desire to continue to get younger and faster.

The 25-year-old Miles has a good shot to make the team because of his special teams play. James, enetering his second season, missed all of last year with an injury. He was a talented player in college and plays recklessly, a trait becoming of a special teams ace. Undrafted rookie free agent Bobino was a three-time All-Big 12 player at Texas. His marginal speed is a drawback, but scouts, coming into the draft, still believed he could be an impactful player on special teams.

Chris Redman: The backup quarterback position is also known as the trickiest position in football. In bad quarterback situations, he's the most popular man in town and in good quarterback situations you hope you never see him. If it's up to the Falcons, the names of Redman and D.J. Shockley will never be mentioned, but at the same time, in the NFL you're only as good as your backups, so they need to be solid and capable.

In four starts down the stretch in 2007 Redman showed enough to be re-signed by the team in '08. It turns out he wasn't needed, but at 32 he's a veteran presence and, behind the Falcons strong offensive line play, could keep things together in the event of a Ryan injury.

Entering his fourth season with the Falcons, Shockley is a hometown favorite (Georgia native and University of Georgia graduate). At the May minicamp he looked strong, showing significant improvement in his accuracy.

Of the six scenarios, this is perhaps the least likely this year. Redman is under contract through the end of this season and continuity at the quarterback position may not be something the Falcons will want to mess with.

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