South Gwinnett News

The Atlanta Falcons have signed Rashaad Coward, former Chicago Bears starter and Pittsburgh Steelers guard, on Jan. 24.

The Falcoholic reported that Coward, at 27 years old, has played in multiple positions throughout his career and is expected to bring some versatility to the Falcons' roster.

"We have signed Rashaad Coward to a reserve/futures contract," the Falcons said on Twitter.

Coward was formerly a defensive lineman in his college years before transitioning to the offensive line in the NFL, where he has found more success overall, having started 15 games between 2019 and 2020 while playing for the Bears, The Falcoholic reported.

Coward played for the Bears during his first four seasons in the NFL. He played a total of four games with the Steelers and one with the Jacksonville Jaguars last season, Heavy reported. In 2018, Bears head coach Matt Nagy moved Coward to offense however, Coward did not play that year. Instead, in 2019, he started 10 games for Chicago after Kyle Long suffered an injury. After having spent some time with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Coward came back to the Steelers on Nov. 23 as part of the practice squad. As per the report by Steelers Now, he was taken into the active roster on several occasions throughout the remaining season. Steelers Now also reported that Coward played almost exclusively a special teams role, playing just two snaps of offense at Minnesota on Dec. 9.

Coward is joined by 20 other players who have signed reserve-futures contracts with the Falcons in January, Heavy reported. Among these players are offensive linemen Willie Beavers and Ryan Neuzil. Coward recorded 198 snaps at left guard and a total of 133 snaps at right tackle, Sports Illustrated reported.