According to Adam Schefer:
Major moves in ATL: Falcons are releasing CB Dunta Robinson, RB Michael Turner and DE John Abraham today.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 1, 2013
The Turner move had long been expected so there is no surprise there. I had speculated about the release of Dunta Robinson on the PFF radio show the other day. Robinson never lived up to expectations and was set to count for $9 million against the 2013 salary cap. $3 million of his salary would become fully guaranteed if on the roster on March 17th. Abraham was a bit of a surprise. He is still a productive pass rusher and had 10 sacks last season. We had his cap number at $7.25 million which is pretty cheap for a player that can get after the passer.
Releasing Turner saves the team $6.9 million in cap room, Robinson’s release saves the team $6 million and the Abraham cut takes $5.75 million off the books. That totals $18.65 million in savings. They will be replaced by 3 minimum salary players making the net cap gain $17.435 million that can now be spent in free agency.
My gut feeling is that there will be a great deal of Darrelle Revis and Dwight Freeney speculation now that these moves have been made. Atlanta knows they are a close team and could look for two impact players like that as the missing piece to the puzzle. I will update the Atlanta Falcons salary cap pages within the hour to reflect the releases.
Jason is the founder of OTC and has been studying NFL contracts and the salary cap for over 15 years. Jason has co-authored two books about the NFL, Crunching Numbers and the Drafting Stage, which are widely circulated in the industry and hosts the OTC Podcast. Jason’s work has been featured in various publications including the Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, NFL Network and more. OTC is widely considered the leading authority on contract matters in the NFL.