Seeking help at the linebacker position, the Atlanta Falcons signed free agent A.J. Hawk on Tuesday.
Hawk was unsigned after the Cincinnati Bengals terminated his contract on April 26.
ESPN.com reported that the Falcons gave Hawk a one-year deal worth $985,000, a prorated portion of the veteran’s minimum, with a $15,000 signing bonus.
The 32-year-old veteran played 16 games and made 11 starts for the Bengals last year after signing as a free agent. He recorded 25 tackles and one sack.
Hawk spent his first nine NFL seasons with the Green Bay Packers. The fifth overall pick in the 2006 draft, Hawk holds the Packers’ all-time record 1,118 tackles.
Hawk, who made the Pro Bowl in 2010, was released by Green Bay following ankle surgery in 2014. The Packers also released him in 2011, but he returned at a lower salary.
The Falcons’ linebacker corps was ailing due to Sean Weatherspoon’s season-ending Achilles tendon injury as well as ailments that are slowing Paul Worrilow (groin), Deion Jones (calf) and De’Vondre Campbell (ankle).
Atlanta placed Weatherspoon on injured reserve Tuesday. The Falcons also released linebacker O’Brien Schofield and waived linebacker Davis Tull from the practice squad.
Punter Michael Palardy was added to the Falcons’ practice squad. He made the Browns’ original season-opening roster but was cut before the first game when Cleveland signed Britton Colquitt. The Oakland Raiders signed Palardy as an undrafted free agent out of Tennessee in 2014, and he subsequently spent time under contract with the St. Louis Rams, Carolina Panthers and the Indianapolis Colts.