Falcons QB Taylor Heinicke Takes Pay Cut

According to ESPN’s Michael Rothstein, Falcons QB Taylor Heinicke took a pay cut to lower his cap number in 2024 from $8.96 million to $4.53 million.

Heinicke had a $1.21 million roster bonus due once the new league year started last month which will now be classified as a signing bonus.

His base salary will be lowered from $5 million to $1.21 million, and Heinicke also had a $40k per-game roster bonus removed from his contract. If Atlanta were to release him, it would leave them with $3.32 million in dead cap with only $1.21 million in savings.

Heinicke, 31, wound up signing on with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent out of Old Dominion back in 2015. He managed to make the 53-man roster during his rookie season but wasn’t active for a single game.

The Vikings elected to waive Heinicke with an injury designation coming out of the preseason in 2017 before eventually cutting him loose with an injury settlement.

Heinicke had brief stints with the Patriots and Texans before being claimed by the Panthers. Carolina released him coming out of the preseason in 2019 and he signed on to Washington’s practice squad late in 2020. He signed a two-year, $8.75 million extension with Washington in 2021 before signing a two-year deal with the Falcons back in March. 

In 2023, Heinicke appeared in five games for the Falcons and completed 74 of 136 pass attempts (54.4 percent) for 890 yards, five touchdowns and four interceptions. He added 15 carries for 124 yards and a touchdown.