The Falcons will have a lot of tough decisions to make this offseason. They could trade away multiple key pieces, and there are a lot of impending free agents on a thin roster. For now, the biggest looming problem is Julio Jones’ $15.5 million dead cap hit. If Matt Ryan is traded before June 1st, the Falcons will incur a record-setting $40.525 million dead cap hit. As it stands right now, the NFL salary cap is expected to be at $208.2 million, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
As expected, the NFL informed clubs the 2022 salary cap is projected to be $208.2 million, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 14, 2021
This is good news for the Falcons, and the salary cap should rise even further with the NFL’s new television deal in 2023. However, Over The Cap has the Falcons at a projected $12.52 million available in cap space with only 29 players on the active roster. That is… really bad news. Still, the Falcons have a few tools at their disposal.
Atlanta has the option to extend Grady Jarrett, and they could make a few cuts and trades that would save them some extra money. There hasn’t been an NFL team yet that hasn’t fielded a 53-man roster, so I’m not too concerned about the Falcons finding some money to spend. However, they won’t be big buyers during the 2022 free agency period either. Just like last last offseason, expect Terry Fontenot to search for free agents in the bargain bin to round out this roster, and hopefully, a few of those guys make a significant impact like Cordarrelle Patterson did this season.
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