A season after leading the league in dead cap hits the Atlanta Falcons now have the second most cap space in the league and are looking to make a playoff push. Terry Fontenot did a great job getting rid of a myriad of bad contracts opting for short-term pain to set up a long-term window to contend.
With Tom Brady retiring and Aaron Rodgers facing an uncertain future, the NFC hasn’t been this wide open in a very long time. The timing of Atlanta’s moves has worked out perfectly and gives them a chance to be a real playoff contender this season.
Matt Ryan and Julio Jones both are officially off of Atlanta’s cap space with Jones and Ryan taking up a large portion of Atlanta’s cap both in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Ryan was obviously still playing in Atlanta in 2021 with the Falcons opting to take a painful out in the 2022 season setting their dead cap at a league-high.
That number is currently at $16.5 million in dead cap for the 2023 season. A very reasonable number that has the majority tied up in Atlanta dealing with the final bad contract of the previous front office.