The Falcons were one of a few teams who were in the red financially prior to the league year beginning in March. In order to alleviate cap stress, Atlanta was forced to release and restructure a handful of players. Dante Fowler found himself on the restructure end.
Fowler’s $18.5 million cap hit was among the highest on the team. In a press conference on Monday, Fowler discussed why he sought a restructure to dampen his high cap hit.
“The situation was basically me understanding what happened last year and stuff like that. And showing that I want to be here for a good amount of time,” stated Fowler on Monday morning after the Falcons practice. “I feel like under the circumstances that we were in, I felt like I could do my part to help the team get better in any type of way… Yes, it’s a tough decision.”
Fowler joined the Falcons in 2020 after posting career numbers in 2019 with the Rams. However, his impact in Atlanta was minimal, amassing 10 total tackles through 14 games. This also comes with a missed tackle percentage of 31.9 percent as he missed seven tackles in those 14 games.
Fowler’s cap number in 2021 is only $10.7 million and the restructured deal brought on an added voidable year for the 2022 season. Meaning, after this season, Fowler can hit the market as a free agent.
When asked if this meant he has something to prove coming into the 2021 season, Fowler stated he is ready to put 2020 behind him.
“I have something to prove regardless. You know, I was hurt last year. It is what it is. I’m ready to make a statement and show you guys that last year was last year and put that behind us.”
After Raheem Morris stated honestly that Fowler was just not good enough last season, Fowler fought back and added that he was playing despite suffering an unknown injury in training camp.
“But they won’t tell y’all I been hurt since training camp and sacrificed my body basically playing on one leg for 15 weeks, SMH,” stated Fowler in a since deleted quote tweet of Morris’ comments.
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