SWe've thought about this a little before, loyal readers, but not from the same angle that Rich McKay is looking at it.
I found D. Orlando Ledbetter's latest AJC article more than little interesting for that reason. McKay, who despite his distance from the day-to-day operations of the team still has about as good a grasp as you'll find on what the Falcons are doing in a more general sense.
Basically, McKay believes the lockout will actually aid the Falcons on two fronts. Let's take a quick look at them.
- Rookies will be paid less. For a team with $102 million in existing contracts against $120 million in cap space, this is huge. The Falcons can expect to pay Julio Jones less than they would have a year ago, as well as all their other major rookies. Cut one or two under-achieving, overpaid veteran(s) and you've suddenly got yourself a little wiggle room.
- The stadium. The new agreement might help the momentum of the team's ongoing quest for a new stadium, to replace the not-so-ancient Georgia Dome. That may not help your average fan, but the team has made it clear they want a new stadium and it can only help to pull in your more casual fan.
Okay, those aren't enormous impacts. But they count for something. Better to get something than nothing out of this mess, eh?