Atlanta Falcons: 3 Players who won’t be back in 2021

1. Todd Gurley

Leading into the 2020 season, Atlanta moved on from Devonta Freeman at the running back position while looking for a replacement to take over as the starting back out of the backfield in a talented offensive group.

That resulted in the Falcons going out in the free agent market and bringing in running back Todd Gurley to fill that role after he parted ways with the Los Angeles Rams after the conclusion of the 2019 season.

Gurley and the Falcons agreed to a one-year deal in the offseason, with Atlanta taking a flyer on the young running back to see if he could lead the team which had been struggling to include a consistent rushing attack over the last few years.

Unfortunately for both parties, that didn’t work out as they had hoped, with the Falcons once again having one of the worst running games in the NFL and weren’t able to find an attack to balance the high-powered passing game on offense.

During the 2020 season, Gurley finished the year appearing in 15 games for Atlanta, tallying 195 rushing attempts for 678 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground. With an average of just 3.5 yards per carry, which was the lowest mark of his career since 2016 (3.2), Gurley also caught 25 passes for 164 yards out of the backfield.

In his first season with the Falcons, Gurley earned just $5 million during the year, but that doesn’t mean he would agree to the same contract now that he is set to hit the free agent market once again this offseason. According to Spotrac, Gurley’s market value is listed at roughly $11 million, which might be more than Atlanta is willing to offer the 26-year-old for the type of performance he displayed this year.

As the Falcons try and improve the running game and that group in the backfield leading up to the 2021 season, it’s likely that Gurley won’t be a part of that after Atlanta took a chance on him this year.