The Falcons decided that they required a little more depth at the safety positions this year, so they did a small deal with the Patriots for Richards (a decent depth player who should play regularly on special teams, and as a rotational defensive back in Atlanta).

The Patriots are notorious for trading players that they feel they are about to lose for nothing, and they wind up getting something in return. In this case, they were likely to cut Richards on cutdown deadline weekend. So, they took what they could get in return, which is not much.

Richards will not play safety on a regular basis in Atlanta (barring an injury barrage), so his fantasy value is fairly negligible at this point.