FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – The Atlanta Falcons announced Monday morning that they have signed safety Jason Thompson.
Thompson, 25, has yet to appear in an NFL regular season game, and he was last a member of the Green Bay Packers until the club released him at the end of April. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound safety signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent coming out of Utah in 2017, and he has also spent time with the Chicago Bears, Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys.
A former quarterback who transitioned to safety in college, Thompson finished his career at Utah with 21 tackles and one fumble recovery. This signing follows the team's decision to release safety Afolabi Laguda over the weekend.
Prior to the 2017 draft, Pro Football Focus' Michael Renner included Thompson on his list of the 10 “freakiest athletes” in that year's draft class.
"Marcus Williams is probably the Utah safety you were expecting to see on this list, but at Utah's pro day it was Thompson who stole the show," Renner writes. "He turned in a blazing 6.57-second 3-cone, 4.01 short shuttle, 4.45-second 40, 20 bench reps, a 39 ½-inch vertical, and an 11'1" broad jump. Those numbers are all elite for the position. They've yet to translate to football though as Thompson played all of 53 snaps the past two seasons."
