Falcons preparing to make a big move after contract restructures

The Atlanta Falcons hired general manager Terry Fontenot with a long-term plan in mind. The cap situation was in the dumps so it took a few years for him to build a completely new roster.

Fontenot came from New Orleans where they were never afraid to push cap hits down the road with restructures. Now that he is an independent leader in Atlanta, Fontenot has resisted putting this roster back where it started—in cap hell.

Restructures haven't been commonplace for the Falcons over the past few years. They do not want to push money down the road so it is newsworthy when they elect to mess with an active contract, something they have been doing recently.

Falcons preparing for one more big move after contract restructures

Restructuring a contract isn't inconsequential; the money is pushed down the road which turns into a never-ending cycle of restructuring to overcome the past restructures. Essentially, it handcuffs your future.

Recently, the Falcons restructured both Jessie Bates III and David Onyemata's contracts, freeing up over $10 million in cap space. Why is that? We don't know for sure but what we do know for sure is that it wasn't done just for kicks and giggles.

Spotrac has the Falcons with a little over $11 million in cap space.

There was no reason for Fontenot to restructure both guys if he wasn't going to make a move. If they weren't planning for a big addition then eating the contracts as they are would be in their best interest.

The Falcons went a couple of weeks with an open roster spot after the trade of Taylor Heinicke to the Chargers. That spot was filled with the addition of offensive tackle Brandon Parker so a roster move would now require a corresponding release.

There are still available players on the trade block (and no, Haason Reddick isn't an option) and in free agency. Signing someone like Yannick Ngakoue would make sense as he would juice the defense up on obvious passing situations. Only time will tell what ends up happening.