Atlanta Falcons: 5 Offseason moves to make to improve in 2021

1. Figure out a solution with contracts of Matt Ryan, Julio Jones

The biggest issue with Atlanta going into 2021 is the salary cap situation on the team and the fact that its two best players don’t have team friendly deals as the organization begins a rebuild.

Specifically, those two players are veteran quarterback Matt Ryan and veteran wide receiver Julio Jones.

In a perfect world, the Falcons would love to be able to get as much as they could in return for both Ryan and Jones as the team shifts an eye to the future, but their contracts will likely limit them from being able to do so.

Ryan, who signed a five-year, $150 million contract extension with the Falcons in 2018, is locked into Atlanta through 2023. Trading him this offseason would result in a $3.5 million loss in 2021. Jones, meanwhile, cannot be cut or traded without costing the Falcons additional money.

As of right now, unless Atlanta were to get a very appealing trade offer for either or both veteran players, it looks like Ryan and Jones will return to the Falcons for at least the 2021 season. But that doesn’t mean the organization should try and at least figure out a solution to the contract situations of both players and just how much money they are due for a remainder of their contracts.

As the team continues to move into the 2021 season and beyond, they need to figure out if they want to do a full rebuild and clean house or if they want to continue to sit a tough salary cap situation until those contracts expire.