‘Tis the season! Discontented winters will soon give way to the eternal hope of a new spring, with fans of each of the NFL’s 32 franchises training their sights on the horizon. That is certainly the case in Atlanta, with Falcons faithful basking in the promise of new leadership at both head coach and general manager.
Now four years removed from their appearance in Super Bowl LI, with a win/loss record of 18-30 in the three seasons following their last postseason visit in 2017, the Atlanta Falcons find themselves in an NFC South that bears little resemblance to the one in which former coach Dan Quinn’s best teams did battle.
Nowhere is the change of scenery within their division more apparent than at the quarterback position. Cam Newton is no longer in Carolina, Drew Brees has almost certainly taken the final snap of his Hall of Fame career, and Jamies Winston, well … we will have to stay tuned on that one.
Yet Matt Ryan remains at the helm of a Falcons offense with the likes of Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley at his disposal in the passing game. Though the great Tom Brady now resides within the division in Tampa Bay, it is anyone’s guess who might rise from the ranks to challenge the reigning champion Buccaneers from inside the conference.
Where do the Falcons go from here?
With some luck, as well as some shrewd decision making on part of the team’s new brain trust, Atlanta could be in line to benefit from a reshuffling in New Orleans and (what appears likely to be) another middling Carolina Panther team to usher in what could be a return to relevance for the Falcons.
However, to do so they will have to navigate a perilous salary cap situation inherited from their predecessors, and here we will highlight three players who could prove to be expendable to the incoming regime as they look to get younger and better in the 2021 NFL Draft.