Falcons sign free agent WRs
With Roddy White holding out and Harry Douglas out for the season with a knee injury, the Falcons were pouring over their list of available veteran free-agent wide receivers.
Douglas suffered a torn ACL and will miss the 2009 season, Falcons coach Mike Smith confirmed Thursday morning.
Later, the Falcons signed wide receiver Robert Ferguson to a one-year contract, Smith announced after practice, in which Ferguson participated.
Thursday night the team announced the signing of wide receiver Marty Booker and the release of receiver Bradon Godfrey.
The move to add Ferguson was in the works before Douglas went down with a season-ending injury. Ferguson worked out for the Falcons along with wide receiver Ike Hilliard early Thursday morning, said Brian Overstreet, Ferguson’s agent.
Ferguson was a second-round pick by Green Bay in 2001 and played the past two seasons with Minnesota.
Ferguson, 6-foot-1, 209 pounds has played in 83 games with 34 starts. He had 151 career catches for 1,993 yards and 13 touchdowns. “We had been contacted prior to the injury,” Overstreet said. “We just felt they were looking for some veteran help for whatever reason.”
In 141 career games, 116 of them starts, Booker has caught 523 passes for 6,522 yards and 36 touchdowns. He has played six seasons with Chicago and four with Miami.
About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
