Report: Houston Texans Trade T.J. Yates To The Atlanta Falcons For Akeem Dent

Remember how your Houston Texans released QB T.J. Yates yesterday? Yates even tweeted this out:

Can't thank the Texans organization and the city of Houston enough! We've had some great memories and I will always call Houston home.

— T.J. Yates (@TJ_Yates) June 17, 2014

Apparently, that was all a bit premature. Word tonight (which I first saw on SB Nation's excellent site for all things Atlanta and Falcon, The Falcoholic) is that the Texans didn't release Yates. According to PFT, Houston actually traded Yates to the Falcons for linebacker Akeem Dent:

On Tuesday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported that Yates had been cut, on the same day coach Bill O’Brien named Ryan Fitzpatrick the starter. Now, a source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT that the Texans have actually traded Yates to the Falcons.

In return, Houston gets linebacker Akeem Dent. A third-round pick in 2011, Dent appeared in 15 games with seven starts last season. In 2012, he appeared in 16 regular-season games, with 13 starts.

Here's the Pro Football Reference page on Dent. A cursory review of the stats would lead one to believe that Dent fell out of favor in Atlanta last year, but I'll leave that analysis to those who actually watch the Falcons regularly.  Regardless, with the Texans' uncertainty at linebacker, Houston could be a good opportunity for Dent.

Why the report yesterday about Yates getting cut? PFT says:

So what happened Tuesday? Per the source, once word got out that the Texans would be releasing Yates, teams started calling to inquire about a trade. The Falcons, who would have been fairly close to the top of the waiver priority list, opted to make the swap in order to ensure they got Yates.

In the words of the immortal Rowdy Roddy Piper, just when you think you've got the answers, Bill O'Brien changes all the questions.