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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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With a high-powered offense led by Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts, the Atlanta Falcons made defense a priority this offseason. They revamped their defensive line with veterans Samson Ebukam and Azeez Ojulari, along with linebacker Christian Harris. In the 2026 NFL Draft, they took cornerback Avieon Terrell — brother of Falcons corner A.J. Terrell Jr. — in the second round, then added two more linebackers in later rounds: Oklahoma's Kendal Daniels and LSU's Harold Perkins Jr.
But just over a week into training camp, the Falcons have also parted ways with a linebacker and a former second-round pick who came into the league with real promise: Troy Andersen. Atlanta released Andersen on Friday after he sat on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list since the start of camp, adding to what has been an injury-riddled NFL career.
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The Falcons selected Andersen in the second round (No. 58 overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft after a standout four-year college career at Montana State. It's rare for a linebacker from an FCS school to go that high in any draft, but his resume backed it up — he was a three-time first-team All-Big Sky honoree and earned first-team FCS All-American and Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year honors as a senior in 2021.
Expectations were high when he arrived in Atlanta, but he never quite lived up to the hype. After a strong rookie year — 69 combined tackles, three tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, and a forced fumble across 17 games — he's been limited to just nine games over the last three NFL seasons, including missing all of 2025 due to injury.
Andersen appeared in just two games in 2023 after landing on injured reserve early in the season with a shoulder/pectoral injury, then played just seven games in 2024 due to a knee injury. He landed on the PUP list ahead of the 2025 season and didn't appear in a single game during the regular season.
Now, four years after the Falcons made him an early Day 2 pick, he's looking for a new team.
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