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HOT TOPIC
So far, so good for John Abraham.
The three-time Pro Bowl selection has blended in smoothly with new teammates and entering his seventh NFL season, he feels no pressure to prove himself.
Abraham's statistics, 53.5 sacks in 73 career games, speak for themselves. His other big number is $15 million, the minimum that he's guaranteed, over the life of a six-year contract.
He credited the Jets, who drafted Abraham in the first round of 2000 but wouldn't pay him enough to keep him with New York, for letting the 28-year-old play a significant role in dictating his future.
Atlanta acquired Abraham in a three-year trade with Denver three months ago that sent the Falcons' first-round pick -- 15th overall -- to the Broncos in exchange for the 29th pick (which was shipped to the Jets) and a high second-round spot that president-general manager Rich McKay used to select cornerback Jimmy Williams.
Abraham had a lot of leverage, however, because New York GM Mike Tanenbaum couldn't deal him to a team that knew the player wanted to be somewhere else.
"Everyone knew what I wanted," Abraham said. "It wasn't an issue of, 'He wanted to go here or he wanted to go there.' It was, 'He wanted to go here.' They worked it out and they let it happen for us, even with Denver.
"Like (Blank) said, it rarely happens. So, I'm very ecstatic that they did that for me.
PLAYER NOTES
-- Just as Lawyer Milloy ignored sentimentality and signed with Atlanta over his hometown team in Seattle, receiver Brian Finneran told the Philadelphia Eagles he would stay with the Falcons.
Finneran, of course, was the Division I-AA player of the year in 1998, during his senior season at Villanova. He also spent most of his rookie year with the Eagles, with whom he signed after the Seahawks cut him at the end of preseason.
"To go back there would have been great, too -- to end up back in the Philadelphia area and Villanova, where I started really playing a lot of good football," Finneran said. "But it didn't work out up there and like I said, I'm happy to be here and just ready to get going."
-- Ben Roethlisberger's recent motorcycle accident cast light on Atlanta defensive end Patrick Kerney, who flies his single-engine Cirrus SR22 G2 around the East Coast.
"One of the biggest things in training to fly is safety measures and emergency procedures and how to handle those types of situations," said Kerney, who told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he has flown for 2 1/2 years and has 235 hours of training.
Team president-general manager Rich McKay knows there's only so much the Falcons can do without specific language in player contracts prohibiting such activities.
"There's no question there is some fear, but it's a risk most people feel is acceptable," McKay told the Atlanta paper. "We haven't seen many airplane accidents. He's not going out there doing anything reckless. It's not something that you like a lot, but it's not something we have a big concern with."
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
FRANCHISE PLAYER: None
TRANSITION PLAYER: None.
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
--S Keion Carpenter (not tendered June 1).
--QB Ty Detmer (not tendered June 1).
--S Antuan Edwards (not tendered June 1).
--DE Erik Flowers (not tendered June 1).
--S Ronnie Heard (not tendered June 1).
--PK Todd Peterson (not tendered June 1).
--DE Constantin Ritzmann (not tendered as ERFA).
--LB Artie Ulmer (not tendered June 1).
--WR Dez White (not tendered June 1).
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: None.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS
--G/C Ben Claxton.
PLAYERS RE-SIGNED
--TE Dwayne Blakley: ERFA; $425,000/1 yr.
--WR Brian Finneran: UFA; $8M/4 yrs, $3M SB.
--C Austin King: ERFA; $500,000/1 yr.
--DT Antwan Lake: RFA; terms unknown, had been tendered at $721,600.
--DB Omare Lowe: Not tendered as RFA; terms unknown.
--FB Fred McCrary: Potential UFA; 1 yr, terms unknown.
--WR Jerome Pathon: UFA; terms unknown.
PLAYERS ACQUIRED
--DE John Abraham: Franchise FA Jets/trade; $45M/6 yrs, $18M guaranteed.
--S Chris Crocker: Trade Browns.
--OT Wayne Gandy: Trade Saints.
--S Lawyer Milloy: FA Bills; $6.01M/3 yrs, $2.5M SB; 2006 cap: $1.643M.
PLAYERS LOST
--S Kevin McCadam: UFA Panthers; terms unknown.
--S Bryan Scott: Traded Falcons.
--OT Kevin Shaffer: UFA Browns; 6 yrs, terms unknown.
--DE Brady Smith (released; failed physical/toe).
--OT Barry Stokes: UFA Lions; 3 yrs, terms unknown.
MEDICAL WATCH: No updates.
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