Lamar Jackson is officially a free agent -- sort of -- and the Atlanta Falcons have already made it known that they are not interested in the former MVP.
The announcement came as a bit of a surprise, but Abe Gordon believes the team can still make a splash this offseason despite not pursuing the biggest fish on the market.
"If you're not going to spend this free agent money, your salary cap space, on Lamar Jackson," Abe explained on Sunday morning. "I fully support it, but with one caveat: you better go out into the market when free agency and the legal tampering period opens up tomorrow [and] you had better go get someone that's a difference-maker."
At just under $65 million, the Atlanta Falcons have the second-largest amount of available cap space to spend. They started that earlier this week with their extension of Lorenzo Carter, but they still figure to be a major player as free agency begins to heat up.
The cap situation sets up well for the Falcons, as they are a team with serious needs that need to be addressed.
"If you're not going to spend a gazillion dollars guaranteed on Lamar Jackson, you better bring me someone and someone who's impactful," Abe continued. "You better find a legitimate free agent to rush the passer. You better find a guy that shores up the secondary. You better find a guy to replace Kaleb McGary."
There have been some fortuitous cap casualties elsewhere in the NFL that the team could target as soon as Monday.
"There are plenty of big names on both lines that are entering into free agency as it may be," Abe said about the free agent class. "Orlando Brown Junior is top of the heap, right? Like Donovan Smith, a little bit beneath him and you’ve got guys like the [Javon] Hargrave on the defensive line, Frank Clark on the defensive line. I mean, you gotta be bringing some of these guys in. There’s a lot of talk about Jesse Bates and that's fine, I like that, but he can't be the biggest free agent you sign."