After news broke of the Falcons’ decision to part ways with three veterans who played key roles for the team in recent years, Mike Florio opined that Atlanta wouldn’t have made those kinds of moves without a plan in place to keep the Falcons in the mix in the NFC.
General Manager Thomas Dimitroff made the same suggestion on Friday. While discussing the decision to release defensive end John Abraham, cornerback Dunta Robinson and running back Michael Turner, Dimitroff thanked the players while also explaining that “a lot of thought goes into these types of decisions.”
“Given these three moves, again, our focus has always been that we hone in on our players that are currently on our team and our attempt to try to re-sign our football players,” Dimitroff said. “That’s going to be our focus first and foremost.”
Safety William Moore and cornerback Brent Grimes are both free agents and the Falcons still hope to entice tight end Tony Gonzalez back for another season, which would eat up some of the $16 million-plus in cap savings they realized with Friday’s moves. When their focus shifts to players outside the franchise, they’ll also need to find another pass rusher because Abraham was their best one and another running back because Jacquizz Rodgers will need accompaniment in the backfield next season.