The Atlanta Falcons are paying the price in 2020 for paying their talent in previous seasons.
After extending the contracts of Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Grady Jarrett and Deion Jones, the team is ranked near the bottom of the NFL in salary cap space. Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff had to let go of the team’s leading rusher (Devonta Freeman), tackler (De’Vondre Campbell) and sack leader (Vic Beasley) from 2019 in order create space for the upcoming season.
While it was a necessary move, it was also a potentially costly one as Atlanta enters the year with significant roster turnover and no preseason to adjust.
According to Over The Cap, the team is in the bottom-third of the league in percentage of snaps returning from 2019. The Falcons return 72.9 percent of their overall snaps, which is puts them at No. 22 out of 32 teams. Atlanta returns 76.9 percent of its offensive snaps and 68.3 percent of the team’s defensive snaps from last year.
Head coach Dan Quinn could be in for a challenging year, but as I wrote a few months ago, Atlanta should benefit from the continuity of its coaching staff and having a veteran, proven quarterback at the helm.
Make no mistake, though, there are some legitimate question marks on the Falcons’ defense. The team’s young secondary — particularly A.J. Terrell, Isaiah Oliver and Kendall Sheffield — will have to grow up quick.
