Atlanta Falcons updated salary cap situation after free agency moves
After spending a lot of money in free agency, how much cap room do the Atlanta Falcons have remaining?
Protecting the salary cap is paramount for a team to achieve a consistent playoff push year in year out. The Atlanta Falcons spent plenty of money in free agency, but they weren’t reckless like so many teams in recent years have been.
The New York Giants went all in after a major spending spree that involved making Olivier Vernon the highest paid defensive end in NFL history. Yes, that means he’s on more money than J.J. Watt.
Here’s the Falcons’ updated salary cap situation, per Spotrac:
Active contracts: $122,604,032
Top 51 contracts: $121,704,032
Dead cap: $25,653,742
Total (All): $148,257,774
Total (Top 51 + Pool): $151,773,654
Total (Top 51): $147,357,774
Est. Cap Space (All): $10,543,897
Est. Cap Space (Top 51 + Pool): $7,028,017
Est. Cap Space (Top 51): $11,443,897
Alex Mack
To land center Alex Mack, the Falcons had to overpay. And they did, making Mack the highest paid center in the NFL with a five-year, $45 million contract with $28.5 million of that guaranteed. There’s no doubting that Mack is major upgrade on what Atlanta had in 2015, but this a classic case of a team overpaying on the market.
Mack’s cap hit in 2016 is just $4.05 million, but this rises to $9.05 million in 2017 and $10.8 million in 2018. The Falcons effectively can’t get out of the contract until 2018. Cutting Mack in two years time would require a dead cap charge of $6.9 million. The guaranteed money in this deal is the issue.
The truth is Mack isn’t the same player here was, which is hardly surprising at 30-years-old. I worry the Falcons will feel the heat of this signing long into the contract, even if his performances don’t match the large sums of money.
Mohamed Sanu
The Falcons had their hands tied in many ways with only five picks in this year’s draft. They needed to spend some money on the wide receiver market, but unfortunately there wasn’t much to enjoy. Mohamed Sanu is a talented player, although he should have Andy Dalton on top of Christmas card list, because Dalton got him paid. Thankfully for the Falcons, they can get out of this deal fairly inexpensively in two years time if they aren’t willing to spend the money.
Sanu’s cap hit in 2016 is a tiny $2.4 million, but this rises to $7.4 million from 2017-2019, before a final rise to $7.9 million in 2020. Atlanta did a decent job of structuring the contract — the cap charge isn’t bank-breaking for the first two seasons, and if they want to move on in 2018 they can do so with a dead cap hit of $4.2 million, which would give them some cap relief.
Derrick Shelby
The Falcons got themselves an affordable free agent in Derrick Shelby, who signed a four-year deal worth $18 million, $7 million of which is guaranteed. The cap hit is just $2.25 million in 2016, but the highest it reaches is $5.75 million in 2018 and 2019. Atlanta can easily bail out of the contract after a couple of years; the dead cap hit would be just $2.5 million in 2018 — this number is far from ideal, but it would give a cap saving if the team needed it.
Next: Why the offseason has been a struggle for Falcons
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