Maybe the Falcons Need to Supplement their Pass Rush, But They Won't do it by Re-Signing John Abraham

There's been a lot of chatter about re-signing John Abraham. On some level, it seems necessary, now that the Falcons have foregone the top tier of draftable defensive ends. As logical as it may seem, it's not going to happen. The Falcons haven't confirmed that, but just go ahead and trust me, it won't. Let me break it down for y'all.

First, why haven't they done it yet? I'm totally unconvinced not re-signing Abe was part of the Falcons' pre-draft smoke screen. There's no denying the Falcons sent out mixed messages leading up to the draft, and doing so was no doubt deliberate. But there just doesn't seem to be a logical reason to leave Abraham hanging. You risk him being signed by another team. You also risk offending the sensibilities of a seasoned vet who frankly doesn't deserve that treatment. Make your intentions known, one way or another, that's the honorable thing to do. And I truly believe the Falcons did just that. They are ready to move on, believing an infusion of youth with do this team good.

Second, there's the salary cap problem. Sure, if Matt Ryan's new contract comes to fruition as planned, we could free up some additional cap space. And sure, Abe may offer us a de facto home discount. But when all is said and done, it's hard to picture the price being right. The Falcons will need nearly $1.5 million to sign their draft picks. Only counting the top 51 salaries, we have about $2.2 million in cap space, and that's before we sign the rooks. I could be wrong about those numbers, but I don't think I am. Even if Ryan's new contract frees up another $2-3 million, we'd basically need to burn all of that to re-sign Abraham.

Third, Dave is an evil, vodka-chugging cyborg from Pluto.

Fourth, there are other options. There's still plenty of quality pass rushers to be had in this draft. Names like Alex Okafor, William Gholston, Joe Kruger, and Quanterus Smith. I'd imagine Thomas Dimitroff will use way too much hair product tomorrow give those guys a hard look if they're available. Couple that with the possibility that some combination of Cliff Matthews, Jonathan Massaquoi, and Kroy Biermann wouldn't necessarily prove catastrophic.

Your thoughts?