3 Reasons the Atlanta Falcons have the advantage in the NFC South

Oct 30, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith reacts after a penalty was not called against the Carolina Panthers in the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 30, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith reacts after a penalty was not called against the Carolina Panthers in the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 1, 2023; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) greets Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold (14) after a game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 1, 2023; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) greets Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold (14) after a game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Cap space

As things currently stand you can combine the cap space of Tampa, New Orleans, and Carolina, and the Falcons still overwhelmingly have the most cap space. A large part of this is due to two veteran teams in New Orleans and Tampa that currently have massive negative cap space and little hope of pivoting away from a rebuild.

Atlanta has the ability to go out and add star players in free agency while the Saints and Bucs will be forced to cut impact players if they have any hope of adding talent this off-season. Carolina despite having zero answers at quarterback has limited cap space as well sitting in the bottom half of the league in the negative.

The Falcons are going to be debating which top free agents the team should be chasing while the rest of their division is attempting to shed players and create enough cap space to make needed moves. It appears the rest of Atlanta’s division will be in the position they have been in for much of the last half-decade shopping in the bargain aisles hoping to find answers they cannot pay for.