The Atlanta Falcons may have to make a very difficult business decision to create more than $16 million in salary cap space this offseason.
The Atlanta Falcons will have difficult choices to make because of their salary cap situation this offseason. One of those decisions will involve the heart and soul of the team's defense -- Grady Jarrett.
On Jan. 20, Bleacher Report's NFL Scouting Department named Jarrett the Falcons' most likely cap casuality for the 2025 offseason.
"Grady Jarrett has been a loyal Falcon throughout this career, but the team is now in the awkward situation where his production doesn't come close to justifying the price tag. The Falcons can't afford to pay $20.4 million for a defensive tackle who has four sacks over the last two seasons. A restructure would mean pushing more money into the future for a 32-year-old defensive tackle so that's not a good solution either," wrote the Bleacher Report NFL staff.
"The Falcons can create $16.4 million in cap space by releasing Jarrett. If the two sides still want to work together, there's nothing stopping Atlanta from bringing him back on a smaller contract. However, his departure would open up more snaps for recent draft picks Ruke Orhorhoro and Brandon Dorlus."
The Falcons will badly need the $16.4 million in space releasing Jarrett will create with the league's salary cap. As of Jan. 20, Spotrac projected Atlanta to be $6.3 million over the cap when the new league year begins. The Falcons have the fifth-worst salary cap situation in the NFL.
But in the recent past, Falcons owner Arthur Blank has expressed a relunctance to move on from the franchise's star players even with a decline potentially on the horizon. For me, the contract the Falcons signed wide receiver Julio Jones to comes most to mind.
Jones inked a 3-year, $66 million contract during the summer of 2019. That was during Jones' run of six straight 1,300-yard seasons and two first-team All-Pro nominations.
The contract ultimately didn't work out for either side. Jones later shared he felt it wasn't enough for his value, and it might have been too much based on the fact Jones was 30 years old. By his age 31 season, he wasn't a 1,000-yard receiver anymore.
Jones didn't finish the contract, as the Falcons traded him to the Tennessee Titans two summers later in 2021.
Will Blank try even harder this time to ensure Jarrett, another dominant player from the recent era of Atlanta football, is a "Falcon for life"? Or will he and the organization learn that business is business and do what's best to help the team win in 2025.
Bringing back Jarrett at a lower cap number is likely a possibility. But there's little doubt that the Falcons would rather have $16 million in cap space instead of a 32-year-old defensive lineman coming off a season with 2.5 sacks.
Jarrett has posted 4 sacks in the past two seasons, one of which he ended with an ACL tear. He also had nine tackles for loss and 12 quarterback hits in 2024.
Over 10 years with the Falcons, Jarrett has registered 36.5 sacks, 77 tackles for loss, 126 quarterback hits, six pass defenses and five forced fumbles in 152 games. He made the Pro Bowl in 2019 and 2020.
During his tenure, Jarrett has also been a significant force for good in the Atlanta community. In 2024, he earned his second Walter Payton Man of the Year nomination.
