The one extra 2020 playoff berth per conference included in the new NFL labor agreement may not help the Falcons. It wouldn't have been enough in 2019. Three teams with better records than the 7-9 Falcons also didn't make the last postseason. The Falcons need to get better.
But the deal approved by players on Sunday should allow Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff more flexibility to improve the roster. Now we'll see if Dimitroff can make good on his pledge to use creative accounting to free up salary-cap space and add improve the roster. He still has some hard decisions, but the new labor agreement provides the cap bailout Dimitroff needed.
The cap increase for 2020 is modest: $10 million per team to $198.2 million. That's roughly $2 million less than earlier estimates. It represents the smallest increase by percentage since the 2013 season.
But two other provisions give Dimitroff the tools to create space going into free agency. Teams now can spread salary-cap hits for released players over two seasons. They also can raise or lower base salaries by more than 30%, making it easier to restructure contracts for cap relief. Those two tools would have been unavailable without a new labor agreement.
Those kind of moves usually mean delaying the salary-cap pain for later. That might sting less with a big spike in the cap expected after next season under the new labor agreement. The Falcons, all-in for the playoffs in 2020, are willing to keep pushing cap hits forward.
Some potential cuts appear relatively easy for the Falcons. They can save significant cap space by releasing running back Devonta Freeman, tackle Ty Sambrailo and defensive end Allen Bailey. None of the three is essential.
Freeman has been to the Pro Bowl twice but he's a declining player at a position that's lost value. Bailey played about half the snaps in 2019 but he's more run-stuffer than pass rusher. The Falcons once hoped Sambrailo could become a starter but he's a bit player.
Other Falcons cuts that would save chunks of cap space are less palatable. They don't have good internal options to replace cornerback Desmond Trufant, center Alex Mack and safety Ricardo Allen. The cap savings from releasing them would be offset by the cost of their veteran replacements. Those factors make Trufant, Mack and Allen good candidates for restructured contracts.
Even before the new labor deal, Dimitroff argued that the Falcons are not in "salary cap hell" because they have key, core players under contract. That's a fair point. It would be a better one if the Falcons hadn't missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Grady Jarrett and Deion Jones are very good players with big cap salaries for a losing team. Trufant is a bottom-tier NFL starter with the second-highest cap hit for his position. Mack, 34, has the sixth-highest cap salary at his position.
The Falcons are set at the most essential position, quarterback, Ryan. Jarrett is a superlative defensive tackle and Jake Matthews is solid at left tackle. Those positions are important.
But the Falcons are lacking at edge pass rusher and No. 1 cornerback. No team can have it all, but the better teams have good players at those positions. The best pass rushers cornerbacks cost a lot on the free-agent market and are coveted in the draft, where the Falcons don't pick until 16th.
The cap increase alone never was going to be enough to give the Falcons much relief. That's not to say the Falcons couldn't have used that extra $2 million. Every little bit counts when, according to AJC Falcons writer D. Orlando Ledbetter, NFLPA documents showed they have the second-least cap space ($4.02 million) among NFL teams. That's not even enough to sign their draft picks.
That's why the Falcons essentially punted on their best pending free agent, tight end Austin Hooper. They plausibly could create enough cap space to re-sign him but shouldn't, given their higher priorities. The Falcons also are letting linebacker De'Vondre Campbell, a solid starter, test the market.
The Falcons likely will have to say long to at least one of those players. They are unlikely to be contenders so sign the best pass rushers and cornerbacks on the market. Getting impact players in the draft is always an iffy proposition. Even with the extra playoff spot, the Falcons need better coaching and improved production from returning players to break their postseason drought.
But at least the new labor deal gives Dimitroff a shot to make the roster better in free agency. The Falcons still must sign the right players. They blew that part last summer when they signed pricey free-agent guards Jamon Brown and James Carpenter and the offensive like got worse. The labor agreement mitigates those mistakes and others made by Dimitroff.
