With Matt Ryan now in Indianapolis, Atlanta has only 3 players on the roster with cap figures over $10 million for this season - Grady Jarrett (who just signed a long term extension), left tackle Jake Matthews, and linebacker Deion Jones. Jones is the name that really jumps out, as he had disappointing statistics to show for his first season under new defensive coordinator Dean Pees. Jones was drafted specifically for the defensive scheme of former head coach Dan Quinn, who is now the DC in Dallas. And the rumors are starting to fly that Dallas might be looking to trade for Quinn's former Pro Bowl middle linebacker. Never mind what the Falcons get in return. The name of the game for Atlanta would obviously be the cap savings. His salary this season is guaranteed, and he deferred $4 million of last year's salary (also guaranteed) to this season. The team would take yet another dead money hit for trading him, but in the long run the cap savings would be north of $9 million. Atlanta already lost Foye Oluokun in free agency. Oluokun had played 98% of defensive snaps in 2021 and had become a true leader of the defense. Jones played 91% of defensive snaps, so shipping him out would mean Atlanta would be working from a clean slate in the interior LB group. But there are plenty of candidates on the roster to take over those ILB snaps. The team signed Rashaan Evans in free agency. Mykal Walker is entering his third season. Oluokun's emergence meant Walker saw less playing time in 2021, but he was solid in pass defense when he was on the field. Also noteworthy is that this only his second offseason training program and camp, as rookies in 2020 missed out due to COVID. So it would not be a surprise to see him take a step forward in preseason this year. Behind them, the Falcons drafted small school uber-athlete Troy Andersen in the second round. Prospect Dorian Etheridge (who played special teams last year) returns, and Atlanta added prospect Jordan Brailford (former Washington seventh rounder) to the mix. Even without factoring in two undrafted rookies, that's already five players - six, counting Jones - in a group that is likely to be only four players deep. My guess is that Atlanta would love to work out a trade and take that cap savings. Jones is a solid player but not a good enough system fit to justify a $20 million cap figure, and at this point his presence is simply holding back the development of the youngsters. Pees would likely lean on Rashaan Evans to hold down the fort this year and promote Walker to fill the starting roles, while working in Troy Andersen enough to help develop him for a starting role next to Walker in 2023.
As a follow-up, the Falcons insist they aren't "tanking" this season and have said they will still continue to tweak the roster. They have had a couple of linebackers in to visit the team facility recently, and now they have signed former Bears and Raiders LB Nick Kwiatkoski. The ex-Bears part isn't surprising... ex-Bears GM Ryan Pace is now part of Atlanta's front office (along with Phil Emery, who had been Atlanta's Director of College Scouting two stops before his stint as Bears GM). So the Falcons have recently been loading up on cheap ex-Bears free agents. I haven't heard the details yet, but I'm sure Kwiatkoski is cheap on the cap. He lost his starting job with the Raiders and appeared in only 8 games for them last season. So for right now... it's Deion Jones and Rashaan Evans as the two starting ILBs, with Mykal Walker, Kwiatkoski and second rounder Troy Andersen behind them (probably all active on game days - and all playing core roles on special teams) and prospects Brailford and Etheridge hoping to win roster spots. If Jones gets traded, Evans and Walker are likely the top two, with Kwiatkoski and Andersen getting a lot of playing time behind them. I would not say this is a significant enough signing that it indicates trading Deion Jones on June 2 or shortly thereafter is a sure thing. I think trading him probably has been the plan all along, but this signing does make sense even if Jones is staying. If he's traded after June 2, it would generate a $14.7 million cap savings this year with a $5.3 million dead money hit in 2023.
