NFC Notes: Matt Ryan, Falcons, Panthers, Christian McCaffrey 

By
Nate Bouda
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Falcons

The Falcons again have an issue with a top-heavy roster, as the cap hits for QB Matt Ryan ($48.7 million), DT Grady Jarrett ($23.8 million), LT Jake Matthews ($23.7 million) and LB Deion Jones ($20 million) combined total more than half of the team’s $208.2 million budget, with Atlanta needing to stretch the rest to cover the rest of the 53-man roster. Falcons GM Terry Fontenot acknowledged they have no choice but to restructure a couple of those deals and push more guaranteed money into the future but they still are looking for ways to improve the team. 

“All those players with the big cap numbers, it’s not their fault, but it is a challenge, something we have to find the right way to work around,” Fontenot said via the Athletic’s Josh Kendall. “We’re here to improve this roster. There are a lot of decisions we have to make to get to a point where we can improve this roster.”

  • Jeff Howe of The Athletic reports that the Falcons are planning to keep QB Matt Ryan for the 2022 season, despite a staggering $48.67 million cap figure. Howe says that Atlanta hasn’t decided whether they’ll restructure Ryan’s deal for cap room, but this will be determined at a later point as they look to build out their roster.

Panthers

The Panthers obviously are in a pickle at quarterback and will need to figure something out this offseason. Panthers GM Scott Fitterer says at this point they are open to all possibilities at the quarterback position, even 2021 starting QB Sam Darnold.

“Yeah, I’d say Sam is the first to tell you that he didn’t play as consistent as he needed to last year. There are a lot of different factors in that, including the offensive line, injuries with Christian. But he does, he needs to take that next step,” he said via Panthers Wire’s Anthony Rizzuti. “We need stability at the quarterback position — whether that’s Sam, whether that’s someone else. Someone needs to take hold of that position and own that. Right now, it’s open. If Sam does it, that’d be great. But it’s open.”

Fitterer declined to expand on the team’s potential interest in Texans QB Deshaun Watson.
 

“He is under contract with another team, so I can’t really say much about that. I’d say any player in general—we always monitor and see what’s happening across the landscape.”

Christian McCaffrey 

Panthers GM Scott Fitterer isn’t worried about RB Christian McCaffrey‘s durability and chalked up his issues staying healthy to just bad luck.
 
“The talk is he’s been hurt the last couple years. They’ve really been kinda freak injuries. The one in Miami was a freak injury. Someone fell on top of him,” Fitterer said via Panthers Wire’s Anthony Rizzuti. “I think what we’ll look at is are there different ways we could practice? Are there different things we can do during the week with Christian? I know he’s very in-tune with his body, he’s really studying that as well. And we’ll do anything we can to help him. I think more than anything, those have kinda been more freak injuries than anything else.”
 
Fitterer did say the team would look into using McCaffrey out of the slot in order to preserve their star player.
 
“I think we’ll explore every option. Maybe that does take a little bit of wear off his body. The one thing I know is we’re a better team when he does have the ball in his hands. He’s a playmaker from anywhere—whether it’s the slot or coming out of the backfield.”

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