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Falcons Sign Away All-Pro Steelers Return Man
The Atlanta Falcons have signed away Pittsburgh Steelers free agent wide receiver and return man Jamal Agnew, according to a report by Mike Garafalo of NFL Network.
Agnew, 29, spent the second half of the 2024 season on the Steelers practice squad, after signing with the team on Nov. 12. He did not appear in a game.
The former All-Pro returner suffered a pair of serious injuries while with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023 that caused him to not be ready for action at the start of the 2024 season. Now healthy, Agnew will hope to hit the ground running in Atlanta.
A 5-foot-10, 190-pound wide receiver, Agnew was originally a fifth-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions in 2017 out of the University of San Diego, an FCS-level school in his hometown, where he played cornerback.
Agnew played four seasons with the Lions, where he moved to wide receiver. His best season came as a rookie in 2017, when he led the NFL with two punt return touchdowns, 447 total punt return yards and a 15.4 yards per return average.
He signed as a free agent with the Jaguars in 2021, and made the Pro Bowl in 2022 when he averaged 26 yards per kickoff return. In his career, Agnew has returned four punts and two kickoffs for touchdowns.
Agnew was rarely utilized as a receiver in Detroit, but stepped up that role in Jacksonville. He had 61 catches for 641 yards in his three seasons with the Jaguars. Last season, he caught 14 passes for 225 yards — a 16.1 yards per catch average — before his injury. In 2020 and 2022, he went over 1,000 all-purpose yards on the season.