Yahoo! Sports’ Rand Geitlin is reporting that Atlanta Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud will be released by the fourth day of the league year, possibly sooner than that.
The Falcons signed DeCoud to a five-year contract just two years ago and he went to the Pro Bowl in 2012. The reason for cutting him by that date is to avoid a huge portion of that contract becoming guaranteed.
From NFL.com:
"The move will save the Falcons $3 million against the salary cap, and create another hole on their paper-thin defense. We expect Atlanta to be very active over the next few weeks."
Essentially this is a cap casualty, but it just creates more work for the Falcons to replace him. He’ll generate some interest around the league though.