Ahead of their trip across the pond to face the Jaguars in London, the Falcons might be looking to bolster the roster. According to Field Yates, the club restructured the contract of Jake Matthews, converting base salary into signing bonus, creating about $7.1 million in cap space.
That is a lot of wiggle room for Terry Fontenot to potentially work with if he wants to upgrade the roster. More than likely, this is just an administrative move that will lead to nothing noteworthy. But this is a Falcons blog, and I will appeal to your imagination.
Everyone’s minds are going to the Falcons’ biggest weaknesses. Right now, I’d say that’s quarterback play, offensive line, and a premier pass rusher.
Desmond Ridder’s spot is likely safe. I highly doubt the club is entertaining a switch at the quarterback position. I’m not even sure the signal callers that are available are clear upgrades over Ridder.
The offensive line could certainly use improving, but the Falcons just extended Kaleb McGary, spent a second-round pick on Matthew Bergeron, and don’t need to upgrade the left tackle and right guard spots. This also seems unlikely.
A premier pass rusher would be the most likely outcome, but again, not a likely one. Danielle Hunter of the Vikings is a name that has popped up. Minnesota is winless and looks to be on the cusp of a total rebuild with Kirk Cousins in the last year of his deal.
It would behoove the Vikings to sell off pieces before they walk in free agency for nothing, but what kind of message would it send to the rest of their players if they punted on the season after just three weeks? NFL teams rarely do that for a reason. On the Falcons front, Danielle Hunter would be a perfect schematic fit for Ryan Nielsen’s defense, and Atlanta has a need for a dominant edge defender.
Back to reality though, this move probably won’t bring the kind of news Falcons fans are anticipating. I wouldn’t get your hopes up. More than likely, this will result in some sort of acquisition to bolster the linebacker room with the injury to Troy Andersen. Whether it’s a starter or depth piece is up for debate, though.
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