The Atlanta Falcons are officially done with quarterback Marcus Mariota. The Falcons made the announcement of their release of the veteran signal-caller Tuesday, a move that, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, saves the franchise a ton of salary cap money.

“Falcons released QB Marcus Mariota. The move saved them $12 million agains their salary cap,” Schefter reports.

Marcus Mariota arrived in Atlanta in March of last year after inking a two-year deal worth $18.75 million. Mariota has a dead money hit of $2.5 million in 2023, giving the Falcons a financial legroom of $65 million in their cap space heading into the NFL's new calendar year which begins on Mar. 15.

In what turned out to be his only season in Falcons uniform, Marcus Mariota passed for 2,219 yards and 15 touchdowns against nine interceptions. He went 5-8-0 and completed 61.3 percent of his passes for the Falcons, who averaged 21.5 points per game — 15th overall. Mariota's real asset as a quarterback, however, is his ability to use his legs to move the chains. He rushed for a career-high 438 yards to go with four touchdowns on 85 carries.

The Falcons would turn to rookie Desmond Ridder for starting quarterback duties for their last four games of the 2022 campaign, signaling the beginning of the end of Marcus Mariota's marriage with the team, despite still having one more year left on his contract at that time.

Although they still have Ridder, the Falcons could still look for a more experienced option in the offseason to fill the void left in the quarterback room by Marcus Mariota.