3 Atlanta Falcons players to cut to create cap room for the 2024 NFL offseason
By John Buhler
2. Taylor Heinicke would free up over $6 million in available cap space
This one stinks, but I totally get it. The Falcons cannot begin next season with both Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke as their solutions to their starting quarterback problem. All things equal, I would prefer to keep Heinicke because he is a savvy veteran, a local product and a future coach in the sport. He is the perfect backup, bridge quarterback out there for any franchise who is need of one.
However, he is slated to make over $8.5 million next year. Ridder is not even at $1.5 million as a former third-round pick out of Cincinnati. Does Ridder still have upside? Maybe, but certainly more than the finished product that is the 30-something Heinicke, who makes his home in Flowery Branch already. Clearly, Fontenot is going to have to pick one or the other. For financial reasons, it has to be Ridder.
Should Atlanta try to trade for hometown hero Justin Fields, try to sign either Kirk Cousins, Baker Mayfield or Jameis Winston in free agency, or trade up to draft someone like Jayden Daniels out of LSU, the newcomer is going to be the Week 1 starter. Again, Atlanta is in a great spot already with the salary cap, but if the Falcons wanted to free up money for a quarterback, Heinicke is the way to go.
The roughly $6 million in savings Atlanta could get by cutting Heinicke could help land their new star.