Kicker Matt Bryant announced that the Falcons had decided to move on without him in 2019 on Wednesday morning and the team made it official later in the day.
The team issued statements from owner Arthur Blank and General Manager Thomas Dimitroff about the franchise leader in field goals, extra points and points. Blank called him one of the greatest players in franchise history and joined Dimitroff in wishing him the best in the future.
“I am extremely grateful for everything that Matt Bryant has done for this organization over the last 10 years,” Dimitroff said. “There is no doubt he is one of the all-time great Falcons as he’s been an integral part of our success. This was a difficult decision but one that was necessary for us to move forward into 2019. We have the utmost respect for the person and the player that Matt is, and we wish he and his family the best going forward.”
Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com reports that the Buccaneers are expected to have interest in Bryant. Former Falcons special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong is now in the same job on Bruce Arians’ staff in Tampa.
The Falcons have moved on from Bryant and cornerback Robert Alford over the last two days in moves that clear nearly $11 million of cap space for 2019. Some of that could be used toward a new contract for defensive tackle Grady Jarrett.