How much dead cap will the Falcons have in 2021?
The Falcons trading Julio Jones is a harsh reminder not to ignore the salary cap. Of course, there were ways around moving Jones, but as the team learned under former general manager Thomas Dimitroff, restructuring contracts over and over can create major problems down the line. Now that trade has been made official, Atlanta must eat over $21 million in dead cap for the 2021 season. Even with Jones saving the team $4 million in cap space in 2022, he will still eat up an additional $15.5 million that year. Jones will be completely off the Falcons books starting in 2023. Heres a look at the teams individual dead cap hits this season. Player Dead Cap Hit Julio Jones $ 7,750,000 Desmond Trufant $ 5,800,000 James Carpenter $ 2,416,667 Ricardo Allen $ 2,125,000 Jamon Brown $ 1,833,334 Allen Bailey $ 1,625,000 Ito Smith $ 155,218 Jordan Miller $ 117,442 Total $ 21,886,504  The Falcons will pay over $21 million in dead money this year  the sixth-highest total in the NFL. Only the Eagles, Panthers, Lions, Rams and Saints will pay more in dead cap than Atlanta in 2021.