Falcons have lots of holes to fill on defense, lack salary-cap space to do it

If not, then the Falcons will need improvement from several holdover players to be better on defense. They have a new defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich. They have two new defensive assistants, Nate Ollie (line) and Mike Rutenberg (passing-game coordinator). What the Falcons really need is an infusion of player talent on defense, especially the line.

Instead, they released a player who is no worse than the third-best defender in the front seven. Everybody knows the Falcons need to improve their pass rush. Jarrett ranked third in QB pressures among Falcons defenders in 2024. Pro Football Focus rated Jarrett as an above-average pass rusher among the league’s interior linemen. The Falcons now have only two players under contract who gave them juice in the pass rush, linebacker Kaden Ellis and edge Arnold Ebiketie.

The Falcons tried to keep Jarrett. AJC Falcons beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter reports that the team and Jarrett’s camp couldn’t come to an agreement on a contract to lower his $20.3 million cap figure for 2025. So, the Falcons decided it was better to save $16 million in cap space than employ Jarrett.

Releasing Jarrett and restructuring Jake Matthews’ contract left the Falcons with $9.6 million in cap space. Per Spotrac, 27 teams had more space as of Monday afternoon. The Falcons are at a disadvantage when bidding for free agents. They are out of the running for the top pass rushers and cornerbacks on the market unless they create a lot more cap space.

The Falcons can do that by restructuring the contracts of veteran players they want to keep. That list includes safety Jessie Bates III, guard Chris Lindstrom, cornerback A.J. Terrell, tackle David Onyemata and wide receiver Darnell Mooney. Ledbetter reports the Falcons could create up to $33 million or so in cap space by adjusting those deals. So, it’s possible the Falcons still could become players in free agency.

But the downside of restructuring contracts is that it risks adding to too much “dead” money to the cap later. The Falcons know all about that. They ended up in a bad position after adjusting contracts for an aging and losing team. The Falcons finally dug out of that hole two years ago. They are still a losing team, but at least they are younger now, and the cap sheet isn’t in shambles.

Also, the failed Kirk Cousins Experiment means Falcons decision-makers can’t really afford to add dead money to their cap. Releasing or trading Cousins would leave $46 million in dead money that can’t be used. The Falcons could split that figure between this year and next, but the dead money wouldn’t go away. The Falcons are sticking to their story that Cousins will be the highest-paid backup quarterback in NFL history, but either way, his contract has become a very expensive mistake.

It’s already been a bad offseason for the Falcons. Cousins met with Arthur Blank last week and told the team owner he wants to go elsewhere so he’ll have a chance to start. A few days later, the Falcons decided to release Jarrett. Not long after that news broke, another Falcons keeper left: Drew Dalman agreed to sign a free-agent contract with the Bears.

Jarrett’s departure will have the most impact. The Rockdale County High starred for Clemson, but his relatively short height for his position (6 feet) hurt his draft stock. Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff selected Jarrett in the fifth round of the 2015 draft. He became an NFL overachiever with two Pro Bowl selections among his nine seasons as a starter.

The Falcons are going to miss Jarrett. He’s not an elite player anymore. He’s still a pretty good one with the intangibles the Falcons say they value. They need to add players like Jarrett to their defense. Now he’s gone and there’s no easy way for them to do that.