On paper, cap space seems to be a massive issue for the Atlanta Falcons. Spotrac projects them to have -$7.7 million, ranking 27th in the league.
That doesn't tell the whole story; the Falcons will have as much cap space as they want. There are plenty of simple moves to clear space that won't even require releasing anyone.
Falcons can clear over $100M in cap space without releasing anyone
Restructuring contracts is a slippery slope -- just ask the Saints. It pushes money down the road and you will eventually have to bite the bullet. Generally, Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot hasn't been too eager to restructure contracts but that might change in the coming months.
With the Falcons projected to be over the cap, some moves must be made which means players will be on the way out.
However, let's say Fontenot doesn't want to release anyone while also being active in free agency. There is a path for that to happen if you are willing to kick the can down the road.
By performing max restructures on Kirk Cousins, Chris Lindstrom, Jessie Bates, Jake Matthews, Grady Jarrett, A.J. Terrell, David Onyemata, Kaleb McGary, Darnell Mooney, and Kaden Elliss the Falcons can clear up approximately $105.3M and give themself $97.7M in cap space. For context, that would put them at No. 2 in the league behind the Raiders
It is clearly unrealistic for all those restructures to happen but my point has been made. The Falcons can clear up more money via restructures than any team in the league, allowing them to sign any player they want.
It should also be mentioned that some of those players could be outright released, namely Cousins, Jarrett, Onyemata, and McGary.
Suffice to say, we can't get hooked on the raw numbers; there is plenty of cap space available to Atlanta when they need it.