FLOWERY BRANCH — Cornerback Dee Alford, who started 16 games over the past two seasons at nickel back, re-signed with the Falcons on Monday.

Alford played in 16 games and made 11 starts last season. He had 83 tackles, had 11 pass breakups and forced a fumble.

Alford, who played at Spalding High School and Tusculum, started his pro career in the Canadian Football League with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

He’ll compete with Clark Phillips III to earn his starting spot back.

Phillips, who was drafted in the third round (113th overall) in the 2023 NFL draft out of Utah, will get a shot to start at nickel back.

“Clark was outside,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said recently at the league meetings. “We are going to give it a rip. I talked to Clark about it. That’s the cool part about talking to your players and coming up with real challenges and real things that you want to do this year.

“It’s something that you’ll definitely see when we start our OTAs. It’s something that he’s working on right now.”

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