With Super Bowl 59 officially on the books, it is time for the offseason. For teams like the Atlanta Falcons, who are desperate for success, the offseason is arguably the most important time of the NFL calendar. After the seventh consecutive losing season in 2024, the Falcons need to nail their offseason decisions to get back to their winning ways.
The Falcons have important questions they need to answer this offseason. While they have a pressing need to improve on the defensive side of the ball, Kirk Cousins' future remains the elephant in the room. With no cap space and big holes on the roster, a challenging offseason awaits GM Terry Fontenot. In fact, Matt Okada of NFL.com recently identified the Falcons as having the second toughest task in the offseason behind the Dolphins.
As is the case every offseason, the first order of business was signing players to reserve/future contracts. Per Falcons.com, the team officially signed 18 players to reserve/future contracts to kickstart the offseason. The list is as follows:
- Junior Aho, DT
- Matthew Cindric, OL
- Phillip Dorsett II, WR
- Elijah Dotson, RB
- Dylan Drummond, WR
- Joey Fisher, OL
- Jovaughn Gwyn, OL
- Lamar Jackson, DB
- Emory Jones, QB
- Nikola Kalinic, TE
- Khalid Kareem, DE
- LaCale London, DT
- Jesse Matthews, WR
- Makai Polk, WR
- Benny Sapp III, DB
- David Sills, WR
- Tyrone Wheatley Jr., OT
- Kilian Zierer, OT
This means that these players can't negotiate with another team throughout the offseason and don't count towards the 90-man roster limit. They will likely come to training camp with the hopes of making the active roster next season.
Thirteen of these players already finished the season on the Falcons practice squad, with Jovaughn Gwyn, Lamar Jackson, and Khalid Kareem even seeing time in the regular season.
The four players who finished the season on the practice squad but weren't retained were quarterback Nathan Peterman, defensive tackle Kyler Baugh, inside linebacker Rashaan Evans, and tight end Armani Rogers.
Fisher, Kalinic, Sills, Polk, and Zierer from the list above are new additions to the roster and will look to make an impression in the spring with the hopes of at least making the practice squad next season.