5 realistic Atlanta Falcons free agent targets for the 2024 offseason

The Atlanta Falcons are in the midst of their worst playoff drought since the mid-1980s. Not since coming up short in the NFC Divisional Round to the Philadelphia Eagles on First and Sark, the Dirty Birds have been watching the postseason at home from the comfort of their couch like the rest of us. With the right coaching staff and quarterback leading them, the Falcons could be decent in a hurry.

Heading into the new league year, the Falcons have roughly $42 million in available cap space. This puts them with the 13th most cap space in the NFL, which has them nearly $13 million above the league average heading into free agency. While Atlanta can make huge strides in the NFL Draft, it will be during NFL free agency where they can fill other needs beforehand. Who could they possibly get?

While I would expect that the Falcons will be able to land maybe one A-list free agent, they might have to settle for a bunch of guys in that next tier. Although getting the next Jessie Bates III in free agency would be splendid, a handful of doubles would certainly do the trick this year. We can trust general manager Terry Fontenot to continue to make the right decisions to help build this team the right way.

Here are five impending free agents that the Falcons could realistically look to acquire this offseason.

5. Kansas City Chiefs CB L'Jarius Sneed

With news of the Kansas City Chiefs deciding to use the franchise tag on cornerback L'Jarius Sneed, that certainly complicates things in getting him to come to Atlanta. Of course, the Falcons have the financial capital, and better yet, the need, to acquire Sneed by way of a trade after he was franchise-tagged by the Chiefs. Atlanta needs a cornerback opposite of A.J. Terrell. Maybe Sneed is the guy?

Adding one more veteran playmaker in the back end of the Atlanta defense would be huge for the Falcons. Prying Jessie Bates III away from the Cincinnati Bengals remains one of the best free-agent acquisitions the Falcons have ever made to date. If Atlanta had a top-four secondary in the NFL, that might be enough to sustain defensive excellence, despite losing Ryan Nielsen to the Jacksonville job.

With Jimmy Lake following Raheem Morris from Los Angeles to Atlanta, it remains to be seen what type of players he wants to work with on his side of the ball. Sneed may have been an underrecruited player out of Louisiana Tech, but his career is about to really take off. He has already won so many Super Bowls with the Chiefs, so now may be the time to see what he can do as a featured free agent.

Prior to Sneed getting tagged, it was looking increasingly likely that he could be going to Atlanta.