Atlanta Falcons: Sell, Sell, Sell Should be the Trade Deadline Motto

Atlanta Falcons Keepers Offense

Quarterback: Matt Ryan

When things go awry the first player that casual fans blame is the quarterback. On a team that has many issues, quarterback is the least of the team’s problems. Matt Ryan is still playing at a high level. That is evident when you watch other quarterbacks around the league face defenses other than the Atlanta Falcons.

At any rate, trading Matt Ryan would cause the Atlanta Falcons to incur 55 million dollars in dead money, since he recently signed a five-year 150 million dollar contract. That means the Atlanta Falcons would lose 40 million dollars in cap space should the team decide to trade him, according to overthecap.com. It’s not going to happen ladies and gentlemen. Matt Ryan will be with the team for many more years.

Wide Receiver: Julio Jones

Julio Jones is in a similar situation. The All-Pro wide receiver signed a three-year 66 million dollar deal this offseason. The contract means that trading Julio would produce just over 41 million dollars in dead money. This would be a hit of almost 30 million dollars towards the Atlanta Falcons salary cap.

Though Julio could fetch a good deal of assets on the trade market, the team will not trade him, nor should they. He is still one of the NFL’s biggest weapons, and one of the pieces that make the Atlanta Falcons coaching job an attractive one, should the team move in another direction. That is something that seems highly likely.

Wide Receiver: Calvin Ridley

Calvin Ridley was the Atlanta Falcons 2018 first-round draft pick. He validated that selection with a stellar rookie campaign in which he compiled 821 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.

Like many of his teammates, Ridley is not having a great year with just 343 yards. However, he is very talented and has number one wide receiver talent. Add in the fact that he is still on a rookie deal and Calvin should remain a Falcon for years.