Falcons reportedly sign wide receiver Odieu Hiliare

Once a Bowling Green Falcon, now an Atlanta Falcon.

Yesterday, the Atlanta Falcons were reportedly signing a wide receiver, with former Viking and Brown Daylen Baldwin joining the roster once the team makes it official. Today, the Falcons are reportedly signing another wide receiver.

This time, it’s former Bowling Green Falcon Odieu Hiliare, who the team showed a level of predraft interest in before inviting him to rookie minicamp. He was on the shortlist of interesting names I mentioned in my writeup on minicamp invites, and assuming this signing is later confirmed by the team, the Falcons have now signed three out of those four players, having also inked veterans Dane Cruikshank and Bradlee Anae.

Hiliare went undrafted back in April, but is an intriguing player. He made a handful of spectacular grabs for Bowling Green and has the wheels to be a credible deep threat, and Hiliare also returned both kicks and punts in college. In his final season, Hiliare reeled in 45 grabs for 532 yards and four touchdowns, though he had over 700 yards and six touchdowns the prior season. In a crowded group at wide receiver, he’ll hope to stand out enough to latch on to at least a practice squad thanks to that potential special teams value and ability to win downfield.

The team’s decision to add two wide receivers after rookie minicamp and some limited OTAs will raise some eyebrows, especially because there will have to be a corresponding cut after the Baldwin signing put them back at the roster limit. It may well indicate that the Falcons are intent on turning over the bottom of the depth chart at the position with a new coaching staff in town, which would be a perfectly sensible thing to do. At the same time, the Falcons still could stand to shop for upgrades on defense, so perhaps those moves are still to come.

Once again, NFL reporter Aaron Wilson had the news.