NFL.com Hammers Atlanta Falcons Before Free Agency

Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot will head into the free agency period at a considerable disadvantage that's mainly due to the millions of dollars which failed quarterback Kirk Cousins will cost whether he’s on the team or not. 

Cousins is due a $40-million cap hit in 2025, the largest on the team, and the Falcons currently sit 27th in the NFL at $8.7-million over the cap according to Spotrac.

Sure the Falcons will have some flexibility with contracts including defensive tackles David Onyemata, Grady Jarrett, and Kaleb McGary, but they’re not the only team capable of creating more space to sign free agents.

NFL.com is also among the throng of media outlets who are hammering home the bad news to Falcons fans. Matt Okada has the Falcons No. 2 on a list no one wants to be on: teams hit hardest by free agency.

“The Falcons are in very bad cap shape, fifth-worst in the league,” wrote Okada on NFL.com “They have a ton of money tied up in Kirk Cousins, who was benched late in the 2024 season for Michael Penix Jr.

“Cousins was signed to give this team a short-term window to compete for the Super Bowl, but now Atlanta appears to be deciding between making Cousins the highest-paid backup ever or taking the cap hit that comes with moving on from him.”

It’s not just the inability to sign players this offseason that puts the Falcons on this list. They’ll likely be losing starters in free agency as well.

“Further complicating matters, defensive stars Justin Simmons, Mike Hughes and Matthew Judon are all due to become unrestricted free agents (and Dee Alford is a restricted free agent) in March,” Okada continued. “On top of all that, Atlanta might have difficult extension decisions to make in the near future with Kyle Pitts, Drake London and Tyler Allgeier -- if it intends to keep a decent core of young weapons on hand for Penix. If the Falcons can’t figure out the money and end up gutting the roster to start a rebuild, it’s likely going to be a painful process for a couple years.”

The good news for the Falcons is Simmons and Judon weren’t good players in former defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake’s passive-prevent scheme. The opportunity was lost with them last year, but it won’t be overly difficult to replace them in 2025.

However, it's a sobering realization that the pain might last for more than just one season.

It comes as a bitter pill to swallow that maximizing the pivotal rookie contract window they might have afforded themselves by drafting Michael Penix Jr. won't be simplistic in any shape or form.

Adding vital quality young puzzle pieces will rely heavily on good solid drafting, but in equal measure, it will depend greatly on being ruthless with the overpaid dead weight which proliferates the current roster.

While NFL.com is of the opinion that massively disappointing tight end Kyle Pitts will need to be accounted for in terms of a contract extension, the likelihood of Pitts getting that extension is slim. Should he have a breakout season in 2025, he’s much more likely to get a franchise tag, which would be roughly $15 million.

In all fairness, hitching the wagon to a burgeoning youth movement with Penix Jr., London and superstar running back Bijan Robinson at the tip of the spear certainly makes the most logical sense.

But there are massive holes on defense and after trading away a third-round pick for Judon and losing a fifth rounder for tampering, the Falcons are short on offseason resources beyond the salary cap trouble.

New defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will be an improvement over Lake, even if they miss the likes of Simmons, Judon, and Onyemata. Hitting on their first-round pick in April to address the pass rush becomes more important than ever.