The Atlanta Falcons are in search of a backup quarterback for Matt Ryan and signed veteran Rex Grossman to a one-year deal that will earn him $1 million.
Grossman was signed to compete for the backup quarterback position against T.J. Yates and Sean Renfree who are struggling in the preseason.
According to ESPN, Grossman worked out for the Falcons Tuesday and head coach Dan Quinn was impressed with his quick release.
Quinn said the signing of Grossman is all for competition as he added, according to ESPN, "We're going to constantly keep looking to battle and see where we can improve, if we can."
He also said, "I'm actually also looking forward to seeing T.J. and Sean going into this weekend as well. ... Every chance we get to come and battle and compete, we're going to do that, at all positions."
Grossman will start practicing with the Falcons Wednesday but Quinn said he will not be playing in their third preseason game on Saturday against the Miami Dolphins.
The 35-year-old quarterback will reunite with Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan whom he had already worked with when he was with the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns.
Shanahan praised Grossman for his toughness as he takes all the hits and the way he competes.
The last time Grossman played in the National Football League (NFL) was in the 2011 season when he was still with the Redskins.
During that season he started in all 13 games that he played and completed 265 of 458 passes for 3,151 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Along with the Redskins and the Browns, Grossman also had stops with the Chicago Bears, the team that drafted him no. 22 overall in 2003, and the Houston Texans.
Grossman will bring veteran experience to Atlanta as he played in a total of 54 regular season games in his entire NFL career; and although he has had only four preseason appearances, one of those was when he started for the Bears in Super Bowl XLI.
