Falcons sign veteran cornerback Kevin King

He’s set to make a comeback after missing last two seasons
Green Bay Packers cornerback Kevin King (20) warms up before an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings Sunday, Jan 2. 2022, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Green Bay Packers cornerback Kevin King (20) warms up before an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings Sunday, Jan 2. 2022, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

FLOWERY BRANCH -- Cornerback Kevin King, who played five seasons with the Packers, was signed by the Falcons on Monday.

King, who turns 29 on May 5, is 6-foot and 200 pounds. He was a former second-round pick (33rd overall) of the Packers in 2017 draft after playing at Washington.

King has played in 51 NFL games and made 42 starts. He has 197 tackles and seven interceptions.

He has not played in the NFL since the 2021 season.

King had a rough ending to his injury-plagued stay in Green Bay.

He gave up two touchdown passes and was called for a game-sealing pass interference penalty in the NFC title game against the Bucs at the end of the 2020 season. He was re-signed by the Packers to a one-year contract in 2021.

In 2020, teams completed 36 of 57 passes when throwing at King (63.2%) for 488 yards and a touchdown for a 96.2 passer rating, according to pro football reference’s advance stats. He had an unacceptable 12 missed tackles (17.4%) while playing in 11 games and making 11 starts.

In 2021, teams completed 20 of 28 passes for 258 yards on King (71.4%) and had a passer rating of 108.9. He played in 10 games, made six starts.

He had missed 29 of a possible 80 games because of injury.

King elected to sit out the 2022 season to get healthy, but he suffered an Achilles injury that forced him to miss the 2023 season.

King will be reunited from Falcons secondary coach Jerry Gray, who was with the Packers in 2020 and 2021 before joining the Falcons in 2022. Also, King played at Washington from 2013-2016 when new Falcons’ defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake was the defensive backs coach (2014-15) and co-defensive coordinator (2016).

King started his college career at safety and in 2013, he was the first true freshman to start for the Huskies. Former Falcons cornerback Desmond Trufant did not open the season as a starter back in 2009. He came on and started the final nine game of the season.

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