Quote:The [font=Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif]Atlanta Falcons released Dante Fowler Jr. on Wednesday, moving on from the outside linebacker with one year left on his contract.[/font]

Fowler had taken a pay cut entering the 2021 season as part of a reconfigured contract and then failed to hit any of the incentives that were placed in the deal, playing in 14 games -- starting six -- and finishing with 4.5 sacks.
The 27-year-old had incentive markers in his contract -- $1 million bonuses starting at five sacks. As part of the reworked contract entering 2021, it meant his cap hit would be more than $29 million -- something that likely would have been untenable for Atlanta.