Before casting any stones about Tyler Polumbus, who started his career as an undrafted free agent for the Denver Broncos in 2008 and has spent time with five different teams in his now eight years in the NFL, it’s important to know why he was available as a Week 4 signing.
According to Josh Alper of profootballtalk.com, it wasn’t because Polumbus couldn’t cut it in Atlanta.
As Alper wrote on Wednesday…
The Falcons didn’t let the start of the regular season stop them from continuing to acquire depth at offensive tackle.
They claimed Bryce Harris off of waivers and signed veteran Jake Long to go with offseason acquisition Tyler Polumbus, leaving them well stocked in the event of injuries at the position. They weren’t quite as well stocked at tight end, which meant that they needed to make a roster move to account for the possibility that Jacob Tamme misses Week Four with a concussion.
Polumbus drew the short straw among the Falcons tackles and the team announced that he has been released so that they could sign tight end Mickey Shuler. Polumbus played in all three games for the Falcons this year and was a regular starter when current Atlanta offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan ran the offense for the Redskins in 2012 and 2013.
“Well stocked” is certainly not what anyone would call the Broncos offensive line, so the Falcons’ over-abundance has proved to be the Broncos’ benefit.
Polumbus is no slouch and he’s going to add depth and experience to a line that badly needs both.