Roster spots on line for Falcons

“Simply because we are more familiar with a lot of the guys on the team,” Smith said. “There are guys that we have relationships with and that’s always a difficult time. We started with 80, and these 80 guys have worked extremely hard.”

After making the roster moves, the Falcons likely will scout the waiver wire for re-enforcements. Last season, they added tight end Justin Peelle two days after the cutdown date for the 53-man roster. A late trade is also a possibility. The day after they signed Peelle, the Falcons traded for Domonique Foxworth, a move that proved extremely helpful.

“This roster, I don’t think it’s set on the back end or even some positions battles as far as starters go,” Smith said. “It’s been very competitive. Of course we are not going to just evaluate what takes place in the [exhibition] games. We are going to weigh the whole body of work, which entails mini-camp, training camp and [organized team activities] and what they’ve done in these preseason games.”