4 Atlanta Falcons who could follow Mariota out the door

3. Jalen Mayfield

The biggest draft whiff of Atlanta’s current front office thus far is clearly Jalen Mayfield. Mayfield was brought in as a starter in the 2021 season and struggled to block anything that wasn’t in the air in front of him. Jalen was consistently bullied on the inside and put Matt Ryan under pressure or failed to make an impact as a run blocker.

Cutting Mayfield follows the same pattern as moving on from Franks focusing not only on opening up cap space but parting ways with players who are clearly neither veteran depth nor developing players with a chance to make an impact.

Elijah Wilkinson is a free agent and cutting Mayfield saves Atlanta just under $1 million perhaps giving the team a bit more flexibility to re-sign the veteran guard and move on from a player who clearly cannot start at this level. Keeping Mayfield and Franks on this roster would be a mistake for a front office and coaching staff that has made it clear they will move on from any player who doesn’t contribute regardless of what position they play or how many zeros are on their check.