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4 Atlanta Falcons moves to open up $18 million in cap space


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1. Marcus Mariota

Cutting Mariota saves Atlanta $12 million in cap space and allows the veteran to find another landing spot early on this off-season. There is zero chance the Falcons are bringing Mariota back after the way he played as a starter and how he handled getting benched in the final four games of the season.

Mariota stepped away from the team after being benched and didn’t return focusing on spending time with his family. This is completely understandable from Mariota’s perspective, however, as a leader, you cannot leave the team when getting benched and fail to help Desmond Ridder and be brought back as the backup.

Apart from the obvious issues Atlanta has with Mariota, there is also the fact you cannot have a backup quarterback inside your top ten cap hits if that player cannot even pass the ball consistently.

The Falcons should be willing to spend at the position for a top option but Mariota clearly isn’t that and it is time for both sides to move on after a failed reunion in Atlanta.

2. Casey Hayward

Unlike Marcus Mariota there is a strong argument to be made for keeping Casey Hayward on the Atlanta roster. The veteran spent most of the season injured and was unable to make the impact alongside A.J. Terrell the Falcons had hoped for. Cutting Hayward saves Atlanta $5 million against the cap and opens up a lot of space, though not enough to bring in a player of Hayward’s ability.

This move comes down to what Atlanta believes the veteran has left in the tank. After an injury-shortened season is Hayward capable of playing at a high level well into his thirties? This is a question Atlanta must weigh when deciding the veteran’s future.

Even if Hayward is close to the level he was before the injury it is a depth improvement for Atlanta and offers a young position group veteran leadership. Keeping Hayward should be the direction Atlanta is leaning depending on how the veteran is recovering and what Atlanta deems they could get for the $5 million the cut would save.

3. Feleipe Franks

Franks isn’t saving Atlanta much against the cap this cut is all about opening a roster spot. Franks isn’t a backup quarterback and cannot play tight-end well enough to demand a roster spot. Why Franks has been able to keep his roster spot over the past two years remains a mystery. For a coaching staff that has preached you must earn your spot it is an odd decision. The team was willing to part ways with Bryan Edwards at a thin position after weeks of failed production. It has been two seasons of failed production from Franks and it is time to move on.

4. Jalen Mayfield

The difference in Atlanta’s offensive line with Jalen and without Jalen the past two seasons speaks for itself. Mayfield was a bad draft pick and clearly a bust. With how many picks the current Atlanta front office has hit on there is zero problem with admitting you were wrong and moving on from an objectively bad player

I’m still on the fence about Hayward but the rest of these guys should be cut without question. However, If we can bring in another vet with a better history of being durable and putting up production Hayward can go as well. Especially if it’ll free up another 18million in cap space. If I were Fontenot I wouldn’t think twice about giving these 4 guys the boot 🥾

 

Edited by TheRisen999
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5 minutes ago, Aluminafalcon said:

Minimum players won’t be cut before training camp.  Mayfield and franks will make it to training camp whether they make it further well that’s on them

Yeah, Mayfield and Franks would only save us $2M combined.  They will at least get a training camp look to see if they made the jump.  They are both super athletic so there is a chance, however small, that one of them makes a leap and figures it out.  

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Just now, Lornoth said:

Those two players have more potential than any random player we'd fill the bottom of the roster with going into TC.

I’ll have to disagree, we could just as easily find another Caleb Huntley or Dee Alford in UDFA. Neither Mayfield nor Franks has shown that level of promise. 

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29 minutes ago, TheRisen999 said:

 

 

Better moves:

Cut Mariota = $12 million

Cut Patterson = $4.25 million

Extend Lindstrom = $9 million

Restrucutre Jake = $10 million

Restructure Grady = $10 million

 

Total Cap added = $45.25 million

Total Available 2023 Cap Space = $95 million (without needing to account for rookies)

 

No reason we cant have DaRon Payne DT, Marcus Davenport EDGE, Vonn Bell S, Nate Davis OG, Corey Davis WR, David Montgomery RB, Backup QB

Bring back McGary (Franchise Tag or Transition Tag), Oliver, Evans, Pinion, Pruitt, Gossett, Fenton

And still fill out the roster....

Edited by Matt_The Iceman_Ryan
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2 minutes ago, TheRisen999 said:

I’ll have to disagree, we could just as easily find another Caleb Huntley or Dee Alford in UDFA. Neither Mayfield nor Franks has shown that level of promise. 

If you honestly think Mayfield or Franks are the two worst players on our roster currently then I don't know what to tell you.

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2 minutes ago, Lornoth said:

If you honestly think Mayfield or Franks are the two worst players on our roster currently then I don't know what to tell you.

I didn’t say the worse.. tho I don’t see Mayfield being far off that marker. And what has he shown in the NFL to give you hope that he’s going to make the jump next season. They’ve literally gotten nothing from him over two seasons except mediocre to plain bad play. Like the article said they’ve hit on enough picks that it’s ok to miss on one. I don’t think he beats out Edoga for a spot anyway if they’re bringing in even more competition and you know they will. 

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8 minutes ago, Matt_The Iceman_Ryan said:

Better moves:

Cut Mariota = $12 million

Cut Patterson = $4.25 million

Extend Lindstrom = $9 million

Restrucutre Jake = $10 million

Restructure Grady = $10 million

 

Total Cap added = $45.25 million

Total Available 2023 Cap Space = $95 million (without needing to account for rookies)

 

No reason we cant have DaRon Payne DT, Marcus Davenport EDGE, Vonn Bell S, Nate Davis OG, Corey Davis WR, David Montgomery RB, Backup QB

Bring back McGary (Franchise Tag or Transition Tag), Oliver, Evans, Pinion, Pruitt, Gossett, Fenton

And still fill out the roster....

Why would we cut C.P. to save a measly 4 mill when he’s literally been our whole offense at certain points in both his seasons with us?

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3 minutes ago, TheRisen999 said:

I didn’t say the worse.. tho I don’t see Mayfield being far off that marker. And what has he shown in the NFL to give you hope that he’s going to make the jump next season. They’ve literally gotten nothing from him over two seasons except mediocre to plain bad play. Like the article said they’ve hit on enough picks that it’s ok to miss on one. I don’t think he beats out Edoga for a spot anyway if they’re bringing in even more competition and you know they will. 

He was always going to be a project and he was injured all last year. If they were going to give up on Mayfield after one season of play they wouldn't have drafted him.

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Do not understand the venom towards Franks. He's an excellent athlete who is switching positions. 

He wasn't going to make it as a QB, after the 21 season, the team told him, you want a roster spot here, it'll be as a TE. And he said OK.

He's played 50 snaps as a TE, With Mariota throwing him the ball.   Lets see what he looks like next year with another year of work to become a TE and a real QB throwing him the ball. If he works out, he's a real bargain that helps the team. If he doesn't, he's cut in TC.

 

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Mariota clears 12m after being cut.

Once we sign players in Free agency these guys will fall off our top 51 in cap space clearing the following amounts:

Guidry 1m
Mofatt 1m
Reid 1m
Harrison 940k
Bell 940k
Bledsoe 940k
Darby 940k
Hinton 870k
Abernathy 870k
Anenigh 870k
Mabin 870k
Ali 750k
Baylor 750k

Total: About 14m

That brings you to a real cap space amount of 82m right now post Mariota cut.

Then if you want to get even more you could cut Hayward (not a fan of this move) and clear another 5m. Lindstrom extension would clear around 3-5m towards the 2023 cap. Grady and Matthews could be restructured and clear anywhere from 12-20m combined. We could get to around 110m in cap space if we really wanted to.

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