The Atlanta Falcons have spent this offseason building off a clear foundation that the front office has been trying to create in the last several years of the NFL Draft. After finding cornerstone skill-position players on offense like Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and potentially Michael Penix Jr., the organization turned its attention to the defense this year.
It remains to be seen if the Falcons' risky decision to trade up for James Peace Jr. will pay off. However, it's clear the organization intended to focus on that side of the football this year.
That said, adark cloud still hangs over the franchisethanks to the disastrous Kirk Cousins' contract that will go down as one of the worst in history. Atlanta could make up for that mistake in a small way by letting one overrated defender walk before June.
David Onyemata playing both sides of Graham Glasgow on this run tackle.pic.twitter.com/jp3Tag1N04
— Justis Mosqueda (@JuMosq)November 6, 2017
Falcons Must Release DL David Onyemata to Save Money This Summer
Veteran defensive lineman David Onyemata, who has experience playing both on the interior and outside, is clearly a quality player. However, you'll notice the above clip was from 2017, and the 32-year-old has reached a stage in his career in which it'd be best for the Falcons to move on.
That's no knock on Onyemata, who stillranked 48th out of 219 qualified interior defensive linemenat Pro Football Focus in 2024, but more of a slight to the Falcons' poor front office decisions over the years. If you are paying Cousins this much money not to play, you have to cut costs somewhere.
Should Atlanta decide to release Onyemata this summer, it can save roughly $8 million on the cap. That's a significant figure, especially considering the team just drafted two impact defenders who could theoretically make up the difference.
If the organization keeps Onyemata, he'll carry a cap hit just shy of $17 million. He's a solid player, but not worth that price tag considering the circumstances.
Thisisn't the first timethat it's been speculated he could be let go. It won't be the last. You have to make tough decisions when you're playing from behind, like the Falcons. In this case, that could mean walking away from a player who started 30 games for you over the last two seasons while notching seven sacks.
Sometimes, decision-makers make mistakes that others then have to pay for. That could be the case for Onyemata here, and he'll only have general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris to blame.
More Atlanta Falcons News and Rumors:
Add us as a preferred source onGoogle