Preseason is over for the Dirty Birds.
And with this mark in the early 2023 football season for the Falcons begins a mighty and unpleasant process to trim the current 90-man roster down to the 53 guys the team needs to proceed to the regular season.
That started Saturday, with cornerback Bless Austin, defensive linemen Justin Ellis and Delontae Scott, and offensive lineman Jalylen Mayfield being officially cut from the roster.
Mayfield has the longest experience as a Falcon among this group. He played for the Falcons since 2021. He was most active in his first season, with 16 games played, but the following seasons was spent on injured reserve. Mayfield returned to the field for practice in this past preseason.
Austin, Ellis, and Scott each joined the Falcons before the preseason started.
This is just the beginning of the winnowing of the Falcons active player roster. Currently, at 86 members, the team must cut down to 53 men by 4 p.m. Tuesday.
