Atlanta Falcons logo on fieldAtlanta Falcons logo (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The Atlanta Falcons are adding to their stellar offseason by signing a player who was already retired from the league.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that the Atlanta Falcons are signing defensive tackle Eddie Goldman, who has not played a game since the 2021 season.

The former Chicago Bears standout joined the Atlanta Falcons during the 2022 offseason, but after spending two weeks with the team, Goldman suddenly announced his retirement. Goldman considered a comeback last offseason when the Atlanta Falcons reinstated him from the reserve/retired list last March, and he reportedly looked “phenomenal” after reporting to camp in July.

However, things would quickly change as his comeback attempt would end with him retiring again before being placed on the reserve/left squad list.

Arthur Smith, their head coach at the time, said Goldman was dealing with a personal issue.


“With Eddie, last year, [he] retired and then we put him on that, and then he actually reached out to us,” Smith said in July, per ESPN‘s Michael Rothstein. “When somebody does that, you say, ‘All right, why not? See how it goes.’ To his credit, he looked phenomenal when he showed up the other day. But like I said, you just never know what somebody’s going through.”

He didn’t take a single snap in 2023.

Fast forward to April 2024 and Eddie Goldman now joins a new and possibly improved Atlanta Falcons team that is being led by new head coach Raheem Morris.

New Atlanta Falcons Defensive Tackle Eddie Goldman Hasn’t Played A Game Since 2021

Eddie Goldman in uniform against Vikings playerEddie Goldman (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Eddie Goldman signed with the Atlanta Falcons in 2022 and will finally log in his first action with the team in 2024 after the two sides agreed to a deal this offseason.

Goldman has retird twice in the wake of him logging 73 career starts for the Chicago Bears. His 2015 rookie year started with 4.5 sacks and five tackles for loss as he would leave the Windy City with 18 combined tackles for loss.

Goldman’s last action came in 14 games with the Bears during the 2021 season, but it should be noted that he did not play the year before as he opted out of the 2020 COVID year.