Defensive Line
New England Patriots- $10,118,418 (DE) and $4,485,350 (DT)
Atlanta Falcons- $ 4,671,324 (DE) and $2,073,600 (DT)
We will first look at the Atlanta Falcons on this one. There DE duo in Tyson Jackson and Brooks Reed are what makes up most of the Falcons salary cap hit with $6,356,240 for Jackson and $3,445.240 for Reed. The rest of the Falcons salary cap for the DE position lies with 36-year-old Dwight Freeney, who is looking for his 2nd Super Bowl ring ( 2009 was his first one with the Colts), makes $2,984,375.
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On the other side, Chris Long jumped at the chance to play for the Patriots knowing that he would have a chance to play in the Super Bowl after the Rams released him. He could have made a lot more money elsewhere but took a one-year deal that will get him $3 million after earning $500,000 in incentives. The second highest figure for a defensive player is Jabaal Sheard, who makes $6,942,960.
In regards to the Defensive Tackle position, the Falcons and the Patriots have normal cap charges with Malcolm Brown and Grady Jarrett who are both on rookie deals. Alan Branch makes the most with $2.75 million for the Patriots.
Linebackers
New England Patriots- $15,091,288
Atlanta Falcons- $4,718,766
Out of all of the areas that CBS looked at, this one is the largest difference between how the two teams spend there money on there linebackers. It should be noted that when you look at the New England Patriots’ linebacker core, Dont’a Hightower is responsible for more than half of the cap charges. A lot of this was due to the Patriots trading Jamie Collins to the Browns a few months ago. On the other hand, the cap hit for the Falcons starting linebackers is roughly 60% of what Hightower makes. This is because when you have Vic Beasley, De’Vonte Campbell and Deion Jones are all 2015 and 2016 draft picks. However, there are people who feel that if Beasley continues to be one of the league’s best linebackers, then his next contract could surpass Denver Broncos Von Miller’s six-year, $114.5 million deal. This would make him the highest paid NFL player who is not a quarterback.
Secondary
New England Patriots- $3,079,740 (CB) and $10,215,585 (Safety)
Atlanta Falcons- $3,219,103 (CB) and $2,483,539 (Safety)
If you look at both the Falcons and the Patriots, they have very little investment in their team’s cornerback positions. In regards to the New England Patriots, this is because of Eric Rowe, Malcolm Butler, and Logan Ryan who are all been in the NFL for upwards of four years. Malcolm Butler is an interesting one to look at as he has been playing at a Pro Bowl level for the past two seasons and only makes $600,000. While the two teams are similar in cornerback cap hit, the contracts are not that close. This is shown by Robert Alford who just received a late-season extension for approximately $38 million over the next four years with an additional $21 million in guarantees which would make him the second highest paid CB in the NFL.
In regards to safety, Devin McCourty of the Patriots ended up rejecting bigger offers from other teams to stay with the Patriots in 2015. He would end up signing a five-year deal, worth roughly $47.5 million. This still makes Devin McCourty, the fourth richest safety in the NFL.It should be noted that Harrison Smith, Eric Berry, and Tyrann Mathieu make slightly more than McCourty. Regarding the Falcons’ safety position, Ricardo Allen and Keanu Neal are both still on their rookie deals.