Falcons cut Elam, sign Bryant

“Jason Elam is a consummate pro and future Hall of Famer,” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. “He faced challenges here, this year, unfortunately and handled it incredibly admirable fashion. But we as an organization felt that given the challenges in the kicking game, felt it was time to make a change and go a different direction.”

The team signed former Tampa Bay kicker Matt Bryant, who last kicked professionally for the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League, and long snapper Joe Zelenka to to take their roster spots. The team had also worked out kicker Paul Edinger and long snapper Jeff Robinson on Tuesday in the team’s indoor barn.

“[Bryant] was stroking the ball very efficiently and effectively today,” Dimitroff said. “He had a hand full out beyond the 50 mark there.”

Last week, former Georgia standout Brandon Coutu, Steve Hauschka, Sam Swank and Shane Andrus all worked out, but none was extended a contract offer.

Elam has missed seven field-goal attempts this season after making 29 of 31 attempts in 2008.

He had key misses in the past three games, a 34-yarder in a two-point loss to Carolina on Nov. 15 and a 35-yarder against the New York Giants on Nov. 22. The Falcons lost in overtime 34-31 against the Giants.

Against Carolina, Elam, who appears to look down at the holder on kicks and not at the center, started and stopped his motion before the ball was snapped to Koenen by Pittman. This signaled, perhaps, that the ball might not have been snapped after Koenen gave the signal.

Against the Giants, Elam appeared to hesitate slightly before going into his motion. It appears that the unit's timing is off.

Elam, a star at Brookwood High School, is one of the game's storied kickers. He is tied with Tom Dempsey for making the longest field goal (63 yards) in NFL history. The Falcons signed him in March 2008 to a four-year, $9 million contact, which included $3.3 million in guarantees. He was making $1.7 million this season and was set to make $1.97 in 2010 and $2 million in 2011.

Bryant was cut by Tampa Bay at the end training camp, while coming back from a hamstring injury. He played for the Bucs from 2005-08 and began his NFL career with the New York Giants in 2002.

Bryant, 5-foot-9 and 200 pounds, has made 138 of 168 field goals (82.1 percent) and 181 of 185 (97.8 percent) of his extra points over his career. He played collegiately at Baylor.

Zeleneka has snapped in 157 games, including eight years in Jacksonville. Coach Mike Smith and several of his assistants came from Jacksonville.