Former Viking Quietly Joined Falcons
The sage continues for Harrison Hand.
Former Viking Quietly Joined Falcons
The 25-year-old found a new NFL destination last week, joining the Atlanta Falcons on a one-year deal. KPRC2 Aaron Wilson tweeted on June 11th, “Falcons sign Harrison Hand [and] cut Anthony Sao.”
Hand will vie for a 53-man roster spot at training camp and in the preseason and is the seventh ex-Viking on the Falcons’ current roster. Here are the other six:
- Daylen Baldwin (WR)
- Kirk Cousins (QB)
- Taylor Heinicke (QB)
- Kyle Hinton (OG)
- Mike Hughes (CB)
- Storm Norton (OT)
Hand will battle this batch of cornerbacks for placement on the regular season depth chart:
- A.J. Terrell
- Clark Phillips
- Dee Alford
- Antonio Hamilton
- Kevin King
- Mike Hughes
- Natrone Brooks
- Trey Vaval
- Anthony Johnson
- Jayden Price
An uphill climb indeed, Hand has played for four NFL teams in four years, most recently the Chicago Bears. He did not suit up for any team in 2023. Here’s his NFL resume to date:
- Minnesota Vikings (2020–2021)
- New York Giants (2022)
- Chicago Bears (2022)
- Atlanta Falcons (2024–present)
The Vikings released Hand during roster shave-downs to 85 players on August 23rd, 2022. Hand then became a New York Giant, a short-lived experiment that ended less than two weeks later. Minnesota releasing Hand in 2022 was a surprise, as most believed the youngster would land on the Vikings practice squad, not the Giants or Bears version. Hand showed flashes of production periodically in Minnesota and was a special teams contributor. But the Vikings added corners Parry Nickerson, Tay Gowan, and Duke Shelley to the practice squad instead that season.
Hand played in 23 games for Minnesota while starting one — a Week 17 in 2020 game at Detroit. In the game before he got the nod as a starter, the Vikings were trounced in a Christmas game versus the New Orleans Saints, but Hand stood out with three tackles, two passes defended, and an interception — as a rookie.
Overall, Hand has played 276 defensive snaps in his career and has been on the field for 274 special teams plays. His significant special teams input suggested Hand might be safe to make the Vikings 2022 roster, but no such luck. Perhaps the Falcons have a special teams opening.
The Vikings host the Falcons in December, a game circled by many fans as a “revenge game,” with Kirk Cousins playing as an opponent for the first time ever inside U.S. Bank Stadium.
Sportsbooks forecast Atlanta to win the NFC South and reach the postseason with around nine or ten wins.
Hand will turn 26 in November.
Vikings Sitting Pretty in One Big Area
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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