Atlanta Falcons are bad this year, and cap-strapped in 2020

Bad this year and looking financially strapped for 2020, the Atlanta Falcons are in a pretty bad place.

The Atlanta Falcons lost their fifth straight game on Sunday, 37-10, at home to the Los Angeles Rams. Adding injury to that insult, quarterback Matt Ryan left the game late with an ankle injury and may miss some time. They’ll certainly have a new head coach next year, but the deeper outlook is not especially rosy.

Zack Moore of Over The Cap.com took a look at the Falcons’ situation for 2020 in the wake of Sunday’s loss. They currently sit $8.7 million over the salary cap, without accounting for the money to sign their 2020 draft picks (projected at $9.6 million).

Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones are slated to account for 27 percent of the Falcons’ cap by themselves next year. Add in the next three highest cap hits, for offensive tackle Jake Matthews, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and cornerback Desmond Trufant, and the top five cap hits for the Falcons will take up over half of the projected $200 million salary cap for 2020.

Three more players (center Alex Mack, linebacker Deion Jones and running back Devonta Freeman) are set to count for at least $9.5 million against the cap next year. Add wide receiver Mohamed Sanu and safety Ricardo Allen to the mix, and the Falcons’ top-10 cap hits for 2020 are in line to take up over 73 percent of the salary cap. In a broad sense a lot more resources have been invested in the offense, leaving head coach and now defensive coordinator Dan Quinn with a talent-thin unit that can’t withstand any key injuries.

Constructing a top-heavy roster is done with an eye on a Super Bowl run, with no general regard for the cap consequences that may come down the road. But the Falcons are 1-6 this year with their currently highly-paid stars in place. With a bit of trimming to do, it will be hard to fill holes in any notable way with a bunch of minimum-salary players during the offseason.

It’s fine to be bad for a bit, if bottoming out yields high draft picks that are used well and any planned move to gut things yields ample cap space. The Falcons are headed for a high draft pick next April, barring a surprising turnaround. But looking further down the road their cap outlook isn’t a lot better, especially if dead money has to be taken on in future years to get under the 2020 cap.