According to Jonathan Jones, the expectation is that Falcons QB Marcus Mariota will not be back with the team in 2023 after his decision to have knee surgery caught the team off guard.
Jones adds there’s a good chance Mariota would have been cut anyway given the way his deal was structured. The way he handled his benching just cemented things.
A source told Jones Mariota took the news of his benching hard and didn’t understand why Atlanta was making the switch to third-round QB Desmond Ridder when they were just one game out of first place in the NFC South.
The day after his benching, Mariota’s representation sent a text to the team informing them the quarterback had decided to have surgery for a chronic knee issue even though he hadn’t appeared on the injury report for it all season.
He was placed on injured reserve, which will rule Mariota out for the rest of the season and sent the team scrambling to sign a new backup, as Mariota won’t be available if Ridder is injured.
According to Over The Cap, cutting Mariota will save the Falcons $12 million in cap space this offseason with just $2.5 million in dead money.
Mariota, 29, is a former No. 2 overall pick of the Titans back in 2015. He signed a four-year, $24.214 million rookie contract that was fully guaranteed.
The Titans picked up Mariota’s fifth-year option worth $20.922 million for the 2019 season. They declined to re-sign him as an unrestricted free agent after he lost the starting job, though, and he ultimately agreed to a two-year contract with the Raiders worth $17.6 million.
After playing out his deal in Las Vegas, Mariota signed a two-year deal with the Falcons in 2022.
In 2022, Mariota started 13 games for the Falcons and completed 61.3 percent of his passes for 2,219 yards receiving, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions to go along with 438 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
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