Atlanta Falcons will free up millions for free agency

The Atlanta Falcons will have to restructure several players in the coming months.

The five highest-paid Atlanta Falcons currently take up a whopping 66 percent of the current payroll. That leaves the franchise with no room to do anything with free agency and barely gives them room to sign the rookies they will draft in a tad over 60 days.

According to Spotrac, the Falcons are currently $15 million over the projected 2021 salary cap. Between restructuring close to half a dozen contracts and cutting several others, the franchise will save tens of millions in the very near future.

With cash currently at a premium, new general manager Terry Fontenot has said that the team will make some very difficult roster decisions in the very near future and this was after they cut quarterback Kurt Benkert, Ricardo Allen, and Allen Bailey.

After looking at Spotrac, here are the veterans that they will restructure in order to free up tens of millions in cash. Remember, restructuring these contracts will be in addition to cuts that the team will make in order to save millions more.

Matt Ryan

Restructuring Matt Ryan is obvious. They will absolutely do this in order to save roughly $14 million this offseason. That is money that they can use to address the offensive line, pass rush, or secondary in free agency.

We saw New England become famous for doing this nearly every year with Tom Brady through the last decade he was under center for the Patriots.

Matt Ryan will still get all his money, but restructuring will help the franchise in several areas and hopefully help him get back to the playoffs.

Jake Matthews

While left tackle Jake Matthews won’t make nearly as much as Matt Ryan will in 2021, he is still scheduled to make more than $13 million.

There are plenty of fans that would like to see the Atlanta Falcons move on from Matthews but he is still a very good left tackle and is one of the locker rooms’ great leaders.

Restructuring his contract again will allow the Falcons to save nearly $8 million in 2021. If they are able to complete this deal, Matthews will stay put in Atlanta and continue to protect the blindside of Ryan, even if the franchise decides to draft a guy like Penei Sewell out of Oregon.

Grady Jarrett

Yes, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett just signed his extension a year ago, but the new Atlanta Falcons front office will seek to restructure with him to save in the neighborhood of $6 million this coming season.

Grady is a top-five defensive tackle in the NFL and both head coach Arthur Smith and defensive coordinator Dean Pees are excited to work with him.

The Atlanta Falcons are not going to release Jarrett anytime soon, so a restructure in order to free up much-needed cash makes sense and is something that Fontenot will do.

There are several other guys that they will seek to restructure like Julio Jones as well as linebacker Deion Jones that will free up more than $10 million in cash for 2021. As we have said for a long time when teams want to make moves, they always find a way to get the cash and this Falcons team will be no different.

They will free up tens of millions this offseason and will be able to sign at least one free agent veteran that can make a difference on this roster.