Atlanta Falcons: Who’s the most important 2016 free agent to re-sign?
For the success of a franchise, an eye always needs to be kept on the future. They need to take care of the salary cap, and part of doing so is knowing who is set to hit free agency in the coming years.
Which Atlanta Falcons’ players are set to hit the market after the 2015 season?
Julio Jones is clearly the biggest priority for the Falcons over the next year. You don’t make such a huge trade just to allow him to walk as soon as he hits his prime. Atlanta can’t allow Jones to get anywhere near free agency, and in my opinion they should sign him as soon as possible.
What they don’t want is for him to have another huge year, only to see his price tag rise even higher than it is. There will be plenty of teams in the hunt for him if he gets anywhere near free agency, and they will be willing to pay top dollar.
Matt Ryan‘s championship window is wide open, and he needs all the weapons he can for him to take Atlanta to a Super Bowl. With Jones, the Falcons boast one of the best quarterback-receiver duos in the league.
This will get done sooner or later. Best case scenario is the Falcons lock him up before the season starts. Worst case, they slap the franchise tag on him early next year.
Here’s a list of the Falcons’ players set to hit free agency early next year.
Unrestricted free agents
WR Julio Jones
C Joe Hawley
DE Adrian Clayborn
OLB Kroy Biermann
QB T.J. Yates
RB Antone Smith
S Charles Godfrey
C Peter Konz
G Harland Gunn
TE Tony Moeaki
RT Tyler Polumbus
G Chris Chester
Restricted free agents
ILB Allen Bradford
OLB Joplo Bartu
RT Ryan Schraeder
ILB Paul Worrilow
ILB Nathan Stupar
WR Freddie Martino
Exclusive rights free agents
Who’s the most important player for the Falcons to re-sign outside of Julio Jones? There a number of offensive lineman on this list, so it will be interesting to see what move the Falcons make.
Next: Power Ranking the NFC South Quarterbacks