Falcons paying $5.5 million in dead money to 4 players

The Atlanta Falcons haven’t had a winning season in six years, but their roster and salary cap are in much better shape than they were when general manager Terry Fontenot took over in 2021. Fontenot inherited a team full of bloated contracts and very little roster depth and helped create a solid, cap-friendly foundation.

While the Falcons still need to find their quarterback of the future, they have nearly $40 million in cap space and another top-10 pick to build around. On Tuesday, the team released veteran tight end Jonnu Smith to free up $6 million in additional cap space.

Cutting Smith also incurred a penalty of $2.5 million, bringing the team’s dead money total to over $5.5 million. Check out Atlanta’s dead cap totals for 2024 below.