3 Atlanta Falcons players to cut to create cap room for the 2024 NFL offseason

1. Jonnu Smith would free up $6.5 million in available cap space

This is the most obvious cap casualty on the Falcons' roster heading into this offseason. Again, this is nothing personal. I actually enjoyed seeing Jonnu Smith be part of the Falcons' offense. However, he is a Arthur Smith player through and through. If he were to be released, he would free up the Falcons $6.5 million. Releasing anyone else above his pay grade in Atlanta is simply too punitive to consider.

At $9 million, Smith makes just a shade under what the Falcons' most talented tight end makes in former first-round pick Kyle Pitts. While they do complement each other quite well, MyCole Pruitt is cheaper and the Falcons have a new offensive coordinator in Zac Robinson. Not to say he is going to 11 personnel the opposition to death like Sean McVay does in Los Angeles, but I would not rule it out.

What I expect is for the Falcons to be more spread open offensively next year. They will still run the ball because that is an area of strength. I just venture to guess that it will be more about the wide receivers rather than the tight ends. Do the Falcons pursue future hall of famer and Drake London's prototype in Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with that money? That is actually in play now.

Smith is probably already shopping for a place he can live in while he works in Pittsburgh next season.