The Atlanta Falcons have been busy this summer locking down young players with contract extensions that have simultaneously lowered their near-term salary cap.
With ownership willing to splash the cash on signing bonuses, the Falcons are able to take advantage of the NFL's flexible rules and extend the cap charges well beyond the actual useful life of a contract with void years .
They did it again this week with All-Pro offensive lineman Chris Lindstrom , according to a report from Spotrac's Michael Ginnitti .
"The Falcons converted $14.7M of G Chris Lindstrom's salary into signing bonus, adding 1 void year, creating $11.76M of 2026 cap space. The 29-year-old is now guaranteed $16M this season, with another 2-years, $37M unprotected remaining," wrote Ginnitti on X.
By cashing out Lindstrom's base salary as a signing bonus and adding another void year, the Falcons were able to spread $14.7 million across five years instead of taking it all on this year. He gets his full payout at the start of the season and lowered his base salary to just the veteran minimum of $1.3 million.
With dead cap numbers of $29.3 million in 2027 and $16.1 million in 2028, Lindstrom is relatively secure that he's relatively secure with the team for the next three seasons.
Not that the Falcons were thinking of moving on from their Pro Bowl guard, but his contract is set to expire after the 2028 season, when he's 31, leaving behind a dead cap of just $8.4 million as those void years accelerate to the year in which he's no longer on the team.
That said, Lindstrom is in his prime as an interior lineman, and he carries a $30.9 million cap hit in 2027, making him ripe for another contract restructure, pushing the Falcons' commitment to him to 2029 when he'd be 32.
Tight end Kyle Pitts , wide receiver Drake London , offensive lineman Matthew Bergeron , and running back Bijan Robinson have all gotten significant contract extensions this summer. Owner Arthur Blank doled out a total of $80.3 million in cash as signing bonuses to the quartet of young players and guaranteed $247.2 million.
The highest base salary for any of them is $1.2 million, and their combined salary cap number for 2026 is just $27.7 million.
It's a risky ploy to push so much of the owed money into the future, but the Falcons have hedged their bets by using the void years with younger players who they believe will get further extensions. That allows the team to bring some of the void-year money into current contracts, so the Falcons aren't sitting on millions of dollars of dead cap as the players age out of the league (think New Orleans Saints ).
The Falcons now have $33.2 million in cap space for the 2026 season, allowing them to make several in-season acquisitions or carry their savings over to the 2027 season. If they decide to keep all of their savings, they would have $145.9 million of available cap space next year , the most in the NFL.
A pile of cash and an owner willing to spend it is something that the national media seemingly forgot when compiling their "future rankings," which predicted another cycle of doom for the Falcons .
The Falcons open their season on Sunday against the Steelers , and there are big questions surrounding the team. However, there's little question that the new regime, led by president Matt Ryan and general manager Ian Cunningham, has positioned the franchise to have the resources for future success.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/falcons/onsi as Falcons Create Significant Salary Cap Space with Veteran Contract Restructure .
