Have the Falcons turned into NFL salary cap hoarders?
After the first phase of free agency, the Falcons have 63 players under contract, with a $2,845,290 previous year carryover, cap number $122,468,615, and cap room of $23,780,200, according to NFLPA documents.
While they avoided making any major splash moves, they really don’t have that much space considering that they need flexibility for a Julio Jones’ contract extension.
The Falcons have plenty of room for his extension, which could actually lower his cap number, allow them to surf for more bargains in phase two of free agency, have $6 million to $8 million for the rookie class and another $6 million left for in-season emergencies.
“They really don’t have a ton of room to spend,” said Joel Corry, a former NFL agent covers football business for the nationalfootballpost.com and CBSsports.com.
The Falcons are closely watching the wide receivers situations in Dallas, Denver and Cincinnati with Desmond Bryant, Demaryius Thomas and A.J. Green. Jones, who’s been selected to two Pro Bowls, will have his market value will be set by his contemporaries.
Jones will likely command a six-year, $78 million deal with at least $30 million in guaranteed money.
“Whatever is done is going to be very expensive,” Corry said. “I don’t know how high it gets or if he gets to the Calvin (Johnson) stratosphere, but that’s probably a floor.”
The Falcons have spent freely in the past and are not in danger of not meeting the 89 percent minimum cash-spending average, per the collective bargaining agreement. For the past two years, the Falcons are at 109.10 percent in spending and are 20-plus percentage points above the spending floor, according to the NFLPA.
While trying to improve the talent level on the football team, the Falcons were firm about not signing players to over market value deals during the initial phase of free agency.
“I’m not concerned about winning free agency,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said.
The Falcons entered free agency with hopes of improving their pass rush, finding a safety and a tight end.
Tight ends Julius Thomas and Jordan Cameron were the best pass-catching tight ends on the market, but they were not heavily pursued by the Falcons.
The pool of potential pass-rushers was solid, but the market went haywire.
The Falcons were not expected to be players for Ndamukong Suh, who landed a six-year, $114 million deal which had $60 million in guaranteed money.
Pernell McPhee, a reserve player with the Ravens, landed a five-year $39 million deal with $16 million in guaranteed money from the Chicago Bears.
The Falcons were players on the next tier of free agency, but watched as Derrick Morgan and Brian Orakpo signed with Tennessee. The Falcons had Morgan in for a visit, but he returned to the Titans to take a four-year $27 million deal with $10.5 million guaranteed.
Orakpo, who has a problematic injury history, signed a four-year $32 million deal with $13.5 million in guaranteed money.
Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff dodged a question about losing Morgan, when asked by Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Jeff Schultz if he was disappointed to lose the former Georgia Tech standout.
“We researched all pass rushers and linebackers in this free agency class,” Dimitroff said. “We looked at them a great deal.”
When pressed to answer about Morgan, he said, “We were diligent about how we were approaching this free agency class.”
And, prudent too.
The $23.8 million number suggests that the Falcons could have been more aggressive. In addition to losing Morgan, the Falcons also missed out of Kansas City safety Ron Parker and St. Louis tight end Lance Kendricks, who said he took less money to stay with the Rams.
“The Chiefs almost had to re-sign (Parker) because you have to assume that Eric Berry isn’t playing until you hear otherwise,” Corry said,
The Falcons marquee signee was linebacker Brooks Reed, who signed a five-year, $22.5 million deal with a $4.7 million signing bonus.
The Falcons may have elected not to overspend on pass-rush help in part because they have the eighth pick in the draft.
Most projections have a talented defensive player, perhaps Clemson’s Vic Beasley, Florida’s Dante Fowler, Missouri’s Shane Ray or Nebraska’s Randy Gregory, being available at that spot. Ray is schedule to visit on April 10.
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