The Falcons didn’t have any marquee free agents to bring back this offseason.
The most notable player that hit free agency was Calais Campbell, and the new staff has made it abundantly clear how badly they want the veteran back in Atlanta.
The same won’t be true next season. The Falcons will watch A.J. Terrell hit the market if a contract extension cannot be reached. Though many fans, including myself, believe Terry Fontenot will hammer a new deal out with Terrell’s representation, Bleacher Report isn’t so sure and believes he could reset the cornerback market in 2025.
The Atlanta Falcons will soon find themselves facing a tough decision regarding the future of A.J. Terrell. The star cornerback has been one of the few bright spots for the team’s defense over the last four seasons and is set to play out the final year of his rookie deal in 2024.
While a long-term extension once seemed to be a no-brainer after Terrell earned a second-team All-Pro nod in his sophomore season, he hasn’t been quite as productive in the years since. After securing three picks during that breakout 2021 campaign, the Clemson product has failed to record an interception in either of the last two years.
Despite the lack of turnovers generated, Terrell has still been a quality coverage man. He only conceded four touchdowns last year—just one more than he gave up during his career-best 2021 campaign—and gave up a respectable 55.6 percent completion rate on the 81 targets he faced in 2023.
If the Falcons weren’t strapped for cash after doling out a four-year, $180 million deal to Kirk Cousins while having extensions looming for other stars such as Kyle Pitts, they would likely have no qualms putting a market value offer on the table for Terrell’s services. However, the team—which has a meager $2.7 million in cap space left to work with at this juncture—could let the 25-year-old defensive back walk at the start of the 2025 league year for financial reasons.
Atlanta’s loss will be a rival franchise’s gain. Terrell is expected to make nearly $20 million annually on his next deal, a price many clubs should be happy to pay to upgrade the secondary.
Although that kind of cash would make him the NFL’s third-highest paid corner—trailing only Denzel Ward ($20.1M AAV) and Jaire Alexander ($21M AAV)—it’s worth it to lock up one of the bright young talents at a position that recently had players like L’Jarius Sneed and Jaylon Johnson ink somewhat below market deals worth $19 million per year.
First and foremost, Bleacher Report is correct. A.J. Terrell has been one of the only bright spots on an otherwise forgettable Atlanta defense over the past four seasons. However, because of that, there’s no reason to believe Terrell will be testing the free agent market.
Secondly, Bleacher Report points out Atlanta’s lack of cap space. Once again, they’re correct… kind of. The Falcons have minimal cap space, but that doesn’t mean a contract extension isn’t possible. In fact, an extension could lower Terrell’s 2024 cap hit. Fontenot could also very well just restructure the contracts of Jake Matthews, Grady Jarrett, Jessie Bates, or Chris Lindstrom to create more cap space.
Lastly, they bring up Kirk Cousins’ deal as a reason that they can’t pay Terrell, when it should be thought of as the reason the Falcons will pay the 2020 first-round pick. Atlanta signaled to the rest of the league they were going for it when they agreed to a $180 million deal with Cousins. Letting Terrell walk would be actively making the team worse in 2025.
I expect the Falcons and A.J. Terrell to agree to a contract extension this offseason, but I don’t anticipate it resetting the cornerback market.
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Photographer: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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