After going into the offseason with the third-highest cap overages and the lowest roster total, the Falcons had to carefully navigate their way back under the salary cap. To do this, the team had to part ways with a few players, while restructuring the contract of Matt Ryan, which saved Atlanta $14 million in cap space.
Now, with the addition of Fabian Moreau, formerly of the Washington Football Team, the Falcons have finally gotten to their 51-man offseason roster. Per the collective bargaining agreement, teams must count their top 51 players with the biggest salary cap hits toward the year’s salary cap. This is then expanded to all 53 players on the active roster once the preseason ends.
So basically, once you sign someone after reaching the 51-player mark, that player could push out the lowest capped player in the top 51. However, if his cap hit is lower than the 51st player, his salary will not count against the cap.
Now, let’s look at all nine of Atlanta’s draft spots and see the effective cap hit they will cost the team. As noted in a previous article, the rookie class will cost more than $12 million. When calculating their cap hit, you have to subtract the rookie’s salary from the player in which they will be replacing.
Here is a quick rundown of which players are projected to get pushed out and the effective salary cap space needed.
| Round | Real Cost | Player Pushed Out (Cap hit) | Effective Cap Hit |
| No. 4 | $ 5,983,333 | Dom Maggio ($660,000) | $ 5,323,333 |
| No. 35 | $ 1,611,958 | Chris Slayton ($660,000) | $ 951,958 |
| No. 68 | $ 946,912 | Elliott Fry ($660,000) | $ 286,912 |
| No. 108 | $ 861,189 | Chris Rowland($660,000) | $ 201,189 |
| No. 148 | $ 747,653 | Chris Williamson ($660,000) | $ 87,653 |
| No. 179 (Comp) | $ 720,039 | Willie Wright ($660,000) | $ 60,039 |
| No. 182 (Comp) | $ 720,039 | Under top-51 cut-off | $ 0 |
| No. 186 | $ 711,123 | Under top-51 cut-off | $ 0 |
| No. 217 (Comp) | $ 692,677 | Under top-51 cut-off | $ 0 |
| Total | $ 12,995,333 | Total | $ 6,911,0894 |
As you may have noticed, the Falcons’ final three draft picks would not count against the salary cap for the offseason. This is because Delrick Abrams’ $780,000 cap hit is higher than the team’s draft selection will be at pick No. 182.
These numbers can be altered by a number of variables. Any trades could impact how many draft picks the Falcons acquire. Trading down would see the price of each draft pick drop. Trading up could see the Falcons parting with a number of draft selections, which would drop the overall cost by a reasonable amount.
Another thing to consider is that these numbers are rough estimates. They provide a near accurate assumption at what the pick value will be and could be off by a small margin but are close enough to have a solid understanding of the effective salary space needed.
The Falcons currently sit just under a million in cap space after the signing of Moreau. As I previously wrote, there are still a number of players whose contracts the team could restructure, trade, or extend in order to create the necessary cap space to sign rookies.
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