The Falcons made a move right at the buzzer. Apparently, the team accelerated $7 million of Jake Matthews‘ 2023 roster bonus onto this league year on the final day to do so. The move created $4.2 million in 2023 cap space, according to Field Yates.
In March 2022, the team and Matthews agreed to a three-year extension worth $55.5 million. According to Over The Cap, the Falcons would have $69.8 million in salary cap space in 2023 before Matthews’ accelerated bonus and will now be closer to $74 million afterward.
Before the move, Jake Matthews was set to cost the Falcons north of $30 million in 2023, which is a steep price to pay for a player that isn’t elite at his position. On the flip side, Matthews has been an iron man for the team since entering the league, missing just one game his entire career, which came during his rookie season.
The Falcons are finally getting out from underneath the bloated contracts the new regime inherited from the former. Matt Ryan‘s record-breaking dead cap hit in 2022 severely handicapped the front office from building a better roster. Julio Jones, Dante Fowler, and others are still counting against the team’s salary cap, but the 2023 cap sheet looks much cleaner.
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