One surprise cut candidate from each NFL team in 2021

Atlanta Falcons: Matt Gono, Offensive Tackle

Several of these teams are going to be hard to find a “surprise cut” since their roster isn’t stacked in any one area, or maybe because of salary cap limitations. For the Atlanta Falcons, the salary cap is the reason it would be a shock to see any big names cut.

Right now, there are rumors that they could be trading star wide receiver Julio Jones — but he’s still someone who would bring back a solid investment. That means, they’re not cutting him.

Outside of that, most of their high-dollar players have contracts that would be prohibitive to them being cut since the dead money would far outweigh any savings — and some would actually cost them even more to cut since they had to spread bonus money all over the place.

For that reason, their most surprising cut could be someone such as Matt Gono who was a valuable reserve lineman for them in 2020. Gono played in all 16 games with four starts and projects as their primary tackle off the bench this season.

The problem is, despite being a reserve, he’s set to make just under $3.4 million this season which is the ninth most on the team according to OverTheCap.com. Making a move even more likely is the fact that they could save all that money by moving on — and as long as they trust rookie Jalen Mayfield, that could be a solid move for them.