Atlanta Falcons: Top 5 players take up 66 percent of 2021 cap space

Green Bay Packers

Just like the Atlanta Falcons, the Green Bay Packers highest-paid player for 2021 is their franchise quarterback.

Aaron Rodgers will take up almost 20 percent of the Packers’ available cap space in 2021. The other four players that round out their top five highest-paid are Za’Darius Smith, Davante Adams, Preston Smith, and David Bakhtiari.

The five of them take up 54 percent of the Packers available cap space, again, this pales in comparison to the Atlanta Falcons 66 percent in 2021. At least the Packers have made the playoff three of the last five seasons whereas the Falcons have missed the playoffs for three straight seasons.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Like the Bills, this one may be cheating as well.

The Bucs were able to put together a Super Bowl-winning team with the greatest quarterback in NFL history because lots of veterans took less money to play in Florida with Tom Brady and a chance to win Super Bowl.

While Tom Brady will take up 15 percent of the Bucs 2021 salary cap, Mike Evans, Donovan Smith, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Ali Marpet will take up a combined 29 percent. Collectively, the Bucs Top 5 highest-paid players will eat up just 44 percent of their allotted salary cap in 2021.

Not only will the Bucs have more money to spend on free agency in 2021, but there will be no shortage of veterans willing to take the minimum in order to join Tom Brady and have a shot at a Super Bowl while the Atlanta Falcons will scrape together whatever they can, in what will be a rebuilding year for first-year coach Arthur Smith.