Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot spent his first two seasons in Atlanta fixing an atrocious salary cap situation. The bloated contracts of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones limited the team’s options up until the 2023 offseason.
The Falcons used the money to retain some key players while bringing in a few big-name free agents. Signing safety Jessie Bates has been a home run thus far, but Kirk Cousins‘ contract is one that this team surely regrets handing out.
Cousins’ uncertain future and monster contract could hinder Atlanta’s offseason options in 2025. Fortunately, the NFL is raising the salary cap. “The league provided clubs a projected salary cap range of $277.5 million to $281.5 million per club for the 2025 season,” wrote NFL.com’s Kevin Patra.
So where do the Falcons stand after these projected changes? While nothing is official yet, Over The Cap‘s updated projections list the team with a cap deficit of $4.9 million.
Obviously, the situation isn’t ideal, but it’s considerably better than where the Falcons previously stood at around $12 million over the cap.
The team has some tough decisions to make with free agency starting in a few weeks. The Falcons have 30 impending free agents, including linebacker Matthew Judon and center Drew Dalman.