Despite all evidence to the contrary, around this time last year fans were told from Atlanta’s then-general manager Thomas Dimitroff that the team was not in “cap hell.” Similar to the start of a bad magic show, fans were instructed to suspend their belief while the front office spoke of “creative” ways to still sign players.
Those creative ways, obviously, do not create spending room out of nowhere. The Falcons entered 2020 free agency with limited resources, just about enough to add a few cheaper but quality players and help stabilize a cap that has gone unchecked.