Ian Cunningham hasn't even been the GM of the Atlanta Falcons for 48 hours yet and the football gods are already coming through for him. He's already inheriting a solid roster built to compete in the NFC, but clearly, the NFL is ready to see the Falcons take their deserved NFC South throne back.
The 40-year-old has his work cut out for him, but things just got a whole lot easier from a financial standpoint. The NFL informed teams yesterday that the 2026 salary cap will be in the range of $301.2 million to $305.7 million, which gives Cunningham even more cap space to work with in free agency.
The NFL informed clubs today it is projecting a 2026 salary cap in the range of $301.2 million to $305.7 million per club, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 30, 2026
That would represent another significant jump from this year’s $279.2 million cap number, and nearly $100M than the $208.2M cap in 2022. pic.twitter.com/3Mr146H01C
The 2025 salary cap came in at $279.2 million and this number is only going to keep climbing, which is big for the Dirty Birds. Instead of having $17.41 million in cap space, they'll have roughly $35 million to spend, and this doesn't account for the roster cuts or restructures that'll free up more money.
Thanks to the NFL's enhanced salary cap, the Falcons have more money to spend this offseason
For a Falcons team that has several key starters on both sides of the football set to hit free agency, this is the best case scenario. Kaden Elliss and Kyle Pitts are the most notable names, but Dee Alford, Tyler Allgeier, Leonard Floyd, David Onyemata, and Arnold Ebiketie are also impending free agents.
Even with the extra money though, it's gonna be unlikely to keep all of them in Atlanta, even if someone takes a pay cut. They also have to agree to long-term extensions with Bijan Robinson and Drake London, just like Pitts in the likely event he ends up being franchise tagged by the organization.
The Falcons will also need to keep money saved to pay their 2026 draft class for their rookie contracts, and many of their moves will be keeping or signing depth players for the league minimum. But now instead of one big splash or retaining one big player, there is more salary flexibility to be had.
The Atlanta front office knows they'll be forced to make some difficult decisions, but having more money to spend will certainly soften the blow for a first-time GM who is well aware of the ramifications these decisions will have once the start of next season rolls around.
Cunningham, Ryan, and Stefanski are a united front, so hopefully they're able to agree on what to do with the extra money.