The Falcons acquired veteran wide receiver Van Jefferson from the Rams on Tuesday, the team confirmed.
Jefferson agreed to terms pending a physical.
The Falcons recently put wide receiver Josh Ali (ankle) on injured reserve. They promoted wide receiver Zay Malone from the practice squad to the game-day roster last week, but then declared him inactive 90 minutes before the kickoff of the home game against the Texans on Sunday.
To make room for Jefferson, the Falcons released linebacker Andre Smith Jr. from the active roster and Malone from the practice squad.
The Falcons and the Rams agreed to swap 2025 picks, with the Falcons giving up a sixth-round pick and getting Jefferson and a seventh-round pick.
With the emergence of Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp’s return from injured reserve, Jefferson was expendable.
Jefferson is the son of Shawn Jefferson, who played in the NFL from 1991-2003, including with the Falcons (2000-02).
Jefferson, 27, was taken in the second round (57th overall) in the 2020 draft after he played collegiately at Ole Miss and Florida.
Jefferson played only two offensive snaps Sunday in the Rams’ Week 5 loss to the Eagles. He is in the final year of his rookie contract.
Jefferson has played in 49 games and made 30 starts. He has been targeted 179 times and has 101 catches for 1,499 yards and 10 touchdowns.
His best season was 2021, when he caught 50 passes for 802 yards and six touchdowns as he helped the Rams win the Super Bowl. He started in Super Bowl LVI and caught four passes for 23 yards in the Rams’ 23-20 win over the Bengals.
The Falcons’ top wide receivers are Drake London, Mack Hollins and KhaDarel Hodge, and they have Scotty Miller and Cordarrelle Patterson, who also plays running back.
Ali was seeing some action on special teams. The Falcons released wide receiver Penny Hart from injured reserve Monday.
The news of the trade was reported first by NFL Media.
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