The Atlanta Falcons released 24-year-old center James Brockermeyer from the practice squad on Monday, via the NFL transaction wire. Thus ends his brief tenure with the team after he generated early buzz as an undrafted free agent.
Brockermeyer, born June 24, 2002, signed with Atlanta shortly after the 2026 NFL Draft. The Falcons waived him on Aug. 30 during final roster cuts and added him to the practice squad the next day.
Two weeks into the regular season, with the team sitting at 0-2, they deleted him from the practice squad and added guard Colby Sorsdal and defensive end Zach Harrison.
The move is not a surprise on paper. Atlanta already had two centers on the 53-man roster: starter Ryan Neuzil, who is in the final year of his contract, and veteran Corey Levin.
Brockermeyer never appeared in a regular-season game and was always fighting an uphill battle for snaps behind those two. Still, the timing is notable because he had been one of the more discussed undrafted players in camp.
The former Miami Hurricanes starter arrived with a strong college résumé. After stops at Alabama and TCU, he started for the Hurricanes in 2025, earned third-team All-ACC honors, and helped Miami reach the College Football Playoff national championship game.
Scouts praised his intelligence, balance, and pass protection more than his size (listed at 6-foot-3, 298 pounds) or athletic testing.
Offensive line coach Bill Callahan complimented him during OTAs after Brockermeyer took first-team snaps when Neuzil sat out a session. The Athletic named him Atlanta’s best undrafted signing of the class.
He is the son of former NFL tackle Blake Brockermeyer and the twin brother of former five-star recruit Tommy Brockermeyer. That pedigree, plus a relatively strong post-draft market, suggested he might stick somewhere even if Atlanta moved on.
Practice-squad cuts this early often reflect roster math more than a final verdict on a player.
Atlanta may be creating space for a different position or simply deciding it does not need a third center on the taxi squad while it evaluates other young linemen.
Brockermeyer remains a restricted free agent in 2029 under the original three-year, $3.13 million undrafted deal that included $230,000 guaranteed at signing. Other teams that liked him in the spring could now have a chance to claim him.
For a 24-year-old who went undrafted despite productive tape and a championship-game appearance, this is a familiar NFL first chapter: a short stay, some coaching praise, and another opportunity elsewhere.
Whether that next stop comes quickly will depend on how teams view his combination of football IQ and physical limitations at the position.
