19. Atlanta Falcons
Current cap space: $5,292,104
Primary free agents: EDGE Vic Beasley, DE Adrian Clayborn, LB De’Vondre Campbell, CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson, CB Jamar Taylor, P Matt Bosher
Falcons head coach Dan Quinn escaped the guillotine after the 2019 season despite a 1-7 start because he proved flexible enough to cede coaching responsibilities to others. He moved Raheem Morris from wide receivers to secondary and gave linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich a bigger piece of the pie. The result? A 6-2 second half of the season, and a defense that improved from 29th to 10th in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted defensive metrics.
“There aren’t many guys that could’ve come into the room as a head football coach this year in a 1-7 setting and reset the tone — just literally reset the tone,” Falcons president Rich McKay said of Quinn in a statement. “Took some ownership of why we were at 1-7 on himself, beyond just pointing at the players and saying it’s on you. He turned the mirror towards himself and he just reset the mindset. And that’s who he is.”
That is indeed who Quinn is. With Morris now installed as defensive coordinator, perhaps the Falcons can improve on two consecutive 7-9 seasons and live up to their overall potential. If not, Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff are probably out the door.