Atlanta Falcons: Positives and negatives from 2020 season

Negative: Future of the franchise in question

Another negative that came with the Falcons finishing below .500 and without a trip to the postseason yet again in 2020 is the fact that the future of the franchise and questions surrounding what the team will look like moving forward continue to grow.

It’s not that Atlanta doesn’t have the right personnel or talented players throughout the depth chart, but that personnel isn’t getting any younger and that alone brings up the question of how much longer the Falcons commit to the current players on the roster before bringing in younger talent for the future.

Coming into the 2020 season, the Falcons already had the oldest average roster in the NFL, coming in at an average age of 26.9. That is headlined by player such as Matt Ryan (35 years old), Julio Jones (31 years old), Alex Mack (35 years old), among others, who play large roles on the team.

Along with the aging roster, Atlanta is also in a tough position salary cap wise leading into the 2021 season, mainly due to the contracts of Ryan and Jones.

The Falcons head into the offseason with a little over $200 million in active salary taking up space on the team, putting Atlanta as the third-worst team in the NFL when it comes to salary cap space behind only the New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles.

With a plethora of needs on the team and an increasing concern of age and salary issues taking place, the future of the franchise continues to be in question for the Falcons. That is something the new front office will have to work through and figure out this offseason.