FALCONS TOP 10 SALARY CAP NUMBERS FOR 2016
The Falcons will have some salary cap casualties over the offseason. They normally come from this list of the Top 10 Players with the highest salary cap number.
- Matt Ryan, $23.7 million
- Julio Jones, $15.9 million
- Paul Soliai, $6.9 million
- William Moore, $6.6 million
- Tyson Jackson, $6.3 million
- Roddy White, $6.1 million
- Adam Levitre, $5.3 million
- Jake Matthews, $4.4 million
- Devin Hester, $3.8 million
- Brooks Reed, $3.4 million
FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons wide receiver Roddy White, the team's all-team leading receiver, has no plans to retire and wants to play at least two more years in order to play in the new Mercedes Benz Stadium.
White said he can’t see himself playing for another team.
“I plan on being a Falcon forever,” White said. “That’s what they told me. That’s where my heart is. That’s where my mind’s at.”
White, who signed a four-year, $30 million contract on July 24, 2014, has been frustrated with his role in the new offense, but he still wants to return.
He’s set to make a base salary of $2.75 million with $1.5 million roster bonus in 2016, but his salary cap number is slated to the sixth-highest on the team at $6.1 million. White is set to make $3 million in base salary with $1.5 million roster bonus in 2017.
“I have no idea how next year is going to be,” White said. “I’m just going to take it in and try to finish as strong as possible and get myself ready to go for next year. Whatever happens after that, happens.”
White, 34, was drafted in the first round of the 2005 draft out of Alabama-Birmingham. After a bumpy start to his career, he started to flourish in 2007 and has become the franchise’ leader in catches (807), receiving yards (10,853) and touchdowns (63).
Wide receiver Julio Jones, who’s in his fifth year, will likely break White’s record if he stays on his career arc. Jones has 405 catches, 6,052 yards and 34 touchdowns.
White was disgruntled with his role in the offense early on. Eventually, the woes of the team and the offense in particular, led to a team meeting before the second Tampa Bay game.
White was targeted 113 times through 15 games last year and has just 66 targets entering Sunday’s finale against New Orleans.
“I’m very disappointed because we put ourselves in a position not to make the playoffs,” White said. “That’s my biggest thing. Other than that, I think we made some strides. We’ve did a lot of good things early on in the season and we’ve come on pretty late. These last couple of weeks, we’ve been playing pretty good football. I’m just disappointed that we had that stretch where we couldn’t knock ourselves (out of the slump) and get some wins.”
White has had a running feud with Saints fans and the city of New Orleans over his career, but he doesn’t plan to take any shots at them this time around.
“The older you get the more mature you get,” White said. “You have to calm down sometimes.”
