3 Atlanta Falcons players who need to be gone before the 2024 season begins

1. Taylor Heinicke

The Atlanta Falcons would be managed poorly if they chose to keep Taylor Heinicke in the 2024 season. Taylor played extremely poorly in Arthur Smith's system and showed little reason to pay a hefty price tag for a bench player.

If you're going to keep one of Heinicke or Ridder you should opt to go with the cheaper player and that is Desmond Ridder. Ridder is in the third year of his rookie contract as a third-round draft pick. His contract is extremely affordable and his level of play is very comparable to that of Heinicke.

Taylor will save the Falcons around $7 million as a cut and that clearly is the route they are going to go. It is a tough business, one that demands the Falcons move on from Taylor and doing the same with Ridder. Heinicke had a solid career with Washington and a lot of his struggles could be blamed on the lack of receiver depth and Arthur Smith's system.

However, this doesn't excuse the missed throws and turnovers that Heinicke still created. It is time to move on and let Raheem Morris help Terry Fontenot put together his own quarterback room this offseason.