SIDELINES : Colts’ Utt Opts to Join Falcons

Veteran Indianapolis Colts offensive guard Ben Utt has agreed to join the Atlanta Falcons under the NFL’s Plan B free agency system. Utt, who was to earn $335,000 from the Colts in 1990, accepted a three-year contract with the Falcons worth $1.4 million.

“It’s more than I ever got from the Colts,” Utt said Monday at the Colts headquarters. The move will be a homecoming for Utt, who played collegiately at Georgia Tech and married a Georgia native.

“It’s always been my wish to someday play in Atlanta. I mean, I’ve had a Falcons magnet on my refrigerator for as long as I can remember,” he said. “Now I’ll get that chance. I’m going home. What else could be better?” Utt, 30, played with the Colts for eight years and started 95 games. He was one of only eight holdovers from the Baltimore era at the end of the 1989 season.