Salary Cap

Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta currently carries $38.4M in cap room, a top-five figure leaguewide, but $39.5M in dead money sits on the books, ranking twelfth in total dead cap burden, which means the team is not as flush as the headline number suggests. The rollover from last year was only $1.4M, ranked 27th in the league, so there is little cushion padding the current number. The encouraging news is in the out years: committed spending drops to $184.0M next season and $146.0M the season after, while projected cap room balloons to $144.8M next year, ranked fourth in the league. By season four, only $36.8M is committed, meaning Atlanta will have near-total flexibility to build around its young core. The 43 expiring contracts this cycle will also thin the books considerably. The short-term prescription is clearing the cut candidates with zero or minimal dead money to generate immediate savings, then leveraging the massive next-year cap room to address the quarterback, defensive tackle, and linebacker needs through free agency or extensions.