Falcons’ biggest mistake on 53-man roster cutdown day ahead of 2026 NFL season

The Atlanta Falcons made quite a few big moves around the NFL’s roster cutdown day. Atlanta pulled off a big trade for Gervon Dexter to solidify their defensive interior. The Falcons also made a platoon of smaller moves to put the finishing touches on their final roster.

Some of Atlanta’s decisions over the past few days have been calculated risks. A few of those moves have paid off for the Falcons, even if they were questionable decisions in the first place.

Atlanta made one surprising mistake on roster cutdown day that could come back to haunt them this season.

Why did the Falcons cut Zach Harrison?

Harrison technically survived the roster cutdown deadline, making the initial 53-man roster in Atlanta. But that did not last long, as the Falcons waived Harrison the next day to make room for a handful of waiver wire additions.

Dave Choate of The Falcoholic was as surprised as anyone that Harrison was waived just one day after roster cutdowns.

“Harrison is the stunner. I thought it was odd that he played as much as he did this preseason and that he didn’t look as effective as he did throughout 2025, but I didn’t think much of it in the end because Harrison is a consistently productive player when he’s on the field,” Choate wrote.

The young defensive tackle only played in seven games in 2025 because of a knee injury. He was also on the active/non-football injury list during training camp with an undisclosed issue.

Still, Harrison has been quite good when actually on the field. He managed 22 total tackles with four-and-a-half sacks, two forced fumbles, and four passes defensed last season. That is some impressive production for only having played in seven games.

Apparently the Falcons were willing to let a player like him, who was on the final year of his rookie contract, simply walk out the door.

“For the Falcons to waive him, they have to be least comfortable with the thought that they might lose him outright, and that’s stunning to me given that Harrison is an affordable young player with a history of being a useful player. I have to say, I don’t get that one,” Choate concluded.

The Falcons have plenty of cap space, but that doesn’t mean they should play it fast and loose with useful players like Harrison.

Atlanta got lucky to bring Zach Harrison back on the practice squad

If there’s good news about this situation, it’s that Atlanta ultimately retained their guy in the end.

Harrison joined the practice squad on Wednesday after clearing waivers and not choosing to sign with another team. Atlanta took a big gamble by putting Harrison through the waivers process, as another team could have picked him up. If that had happened, the Falcons would not have had any say in the matter.

The Falcons got incredibly lucky that another team was not interested in Harrison. Perhaps they calculated that keeping Harrison for one extra day would make it more likely that he could return. After all, most other teams probably filled any remaining roster holes through the waiver process on Monday following final roster cuts.

Ultimately, this is great news for the Falcons because they still have their guy. But Atlanta will be limited in how often they can elevate him from the practice squad. That is, without signing him to the active roster.

It will be fascinating to see if Harrison can fight his way back into onto the active roster during the 2026 season.

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