With the extension for quarterback Matt Ryan out of the way, the Falcons are free to consider other moves with their remaining salary cap space.
There doesn’t appear to be anything in the offing, however. General Manager Thomas Dimitroff said in an interview with former NFL tight end Alge Crumpler on 790 The Zone that the Falcons have a fair amount of space under the cap, around $7 million, but that they weren’t in any rush to spend the money on anybody.
That presumably includes linebacker Shawne Merriman, who offered his services to the team via Twitter, and definitely includes defensive lineman Richard Seymour. There has been a lot of chatter about a possible match between the two sides, but Dimitroff said nothing’s on the front burner right now.
“There is some room, but we also have to keep in consideration that if injuries come about that we have some money to make sure that we help ourselves if something does come about,” Dimitroff said, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’re not jumping right in. We’re not jumping in to spend money because we have a few bucks in our pocket right now. ... Again, our focus right now is to make sure that we get through the [exhibition season] here. I know there is a lot of talk about Richard and Richard is a fine man. There is no more discussion here at this point about having him in here.”
Dimitroff then added that one should “never say never,” which either means Seymour would be an option in case of an injury or that Dimitroff would restart those discussions if Seymour’s price tag were to come down. Either way, there’s no change to the status quo at present.