FLOWERY BRANCH — The Falcons may have settled their third quarterback situation by trading Taylor Heinicke to the Chargers last week and signing Nathan Peterman on Monday.
“Good situation for him,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said of the trade. “Good situation to go out there and potentially be the (second-string quarterback) and do some good things for those guys.”
The Falcons received a seventh-round pick that could turn in to a sixth-round pick based on playing time.
The Falcons then signed Peterman to the practice squad.
“For us, it was about picking up a third quarterback, getting him trained and ready to go,” Morris said. “Obviously, (Michael Penix Jr.) is our second. We’ve got Kirk (Cousins) ready to go.”
Peterman, who was drafted in the fifth round by the Bills in 2017, is looking forward to playing with the Falcons.
“I knew a few familiar faces here,” Peterman said. “I was excited to get here, and it was a little closer to home (Jacksonville, Florida). So, it was a great opportunity.”
Peterman knows wide receiver Darnell Mooney from their time in Chicago and Ray-Ray McCloud from their time in Buffalo.
“(Falcons quarterback coach) T.J. (Yates) was a quarterback with me my rookie year,” Peterman said. “We were teammates. We’ve kept in touch, and for him to be my quarterback coach is pretty crazy.”
Peterman is a candidate to be the Falcons’ game-day emergency third quarterback.
“Whatever they need basically, however I can help the team,” Peterman said. “However, I can help the quarterback (group), Kirk and Michael both. That’s my biggest thing here, trying to help us win.”
Peterman, 30, played at Tennessee (2012-14) in the SEC and at Pittsburgh (2015-16) in the ACC.
In the NFL, he’s been with Buffalo (2017-18), Oakland/Las Vegas (2018-21), Chicago (2022-23), New Orleans (2024) and Las Vegas (2024).
“(We’re) getting another guy in this building to get him prepped and ready to go,” Morris said. “Nate is a veteran, he’s been around a little bit. He’s done a bunch of things. We’ll get him in here, get him prepped up and ready to go.”
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