Falcons to release Ryan Schraeder

The Falcons will release right tackle Ryan Schraeder, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).

Schraeder was fully expected to be cut after Atlanta gave Ty Sambrailo — who took over as the club’s starting right tackle near the end of the 2018 season — a three-year extension. The Falcons will field an offensive line that features three new starters next year: Sambrailo, plus free agent guards Jamon Brown and James Carpenter, the latter two of whom agreed to multi-year deals earlier this week.

A former undrafted free agent out of Valdosta State, Schraeder latched on with the Falcons in 2013 and proceeded to start 73 games over the next six years. He signed a five-year, $31.5M extension in 2016, but he’ll only complete a portion of that contract. Atlanta will now take on $3.8M in dead money by releasing Schraeder, but the team will also open $3.95M in cap space.

Schraeder will now join a free agent tackle class that’s mostly been picked over. Daryl Williams is still the best option on the market, while other 30-something tackles like Jared Veldheer, Jermey Parnell and Joe Barksdale also remain available.