Atlanta Falcons sign Charles Godfrey

The Atlanta Falcons let missed-tackle machine Thomas DeCoud leave this past offseason, and the veteran signed with the rival Carolina Panthers this offseason and has been starting for his new team with more success than he had in his final season in Atlanta. He usurped former fixture Charles Godfrey, who was moved to nickel back before being released last week, and D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Falcons have signed Godfrey and have waived Sean Baker in a corresponding move.

Live Feed

Blogging Dirty

In this spirit of the trade deadline, the Falcons completed a full-circle DeCoud-Godfrey swap with the Panthers, and it will be interesting to see if Godfrey, who was once an above-average free safety in this league and a key leader for his former team, can assert himself as a quality player on the Falcons defense. They might have the worst defense in the NFL, so they’ll have to hope that Godfrey can bring something to the table.

It’s always good to have a positive outlook on a new player, but the Falcons shouldn’t expect much out of Godfrey, who is still trying to get back from a major injury and looked terrible defending the slot in Carolina. He’s a much better player at safety, though the caveat is that he did play in the nickel at college (though that was several years ago). Godfrey once had five interceptions in a season and isn’t old at 28, so he could still bring something to the table for the Falcons defense.