Per Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, the Atlanta Falcons are releasing cornerback Robert Alford. He was one of the Falcons' best defensive backs for the past six years. It's a bit of a surprising move seeing them move on from such a talented player, but it was more for cap relief than anything.
Alford is going to make 8.5 million this upcoming year. As Atlanta attempted to shed salary, they had to make the difficult decision to let him go. In 2016 they gave him a 4 year, $38 million contract extension. Another team will likely pick him up before even free agency kicks off.
Alford has a total of ten interceptions in 88 games over the past six years. Last season for the Falcons, the 30-year-old had no interceptions but did have 11 pass deflections and 50 total tackles. Put him in the right system with the right coaching, he could still be a very impactful corner.
At 5'10” 186 pounds, Alford is a coverage back who can keep up with the speedy downhill receivers. He can match up with bigger endzone threats as well.
Last season, the Falcons had the 25th worst defense in the NFL. They allowed 26.4 points per game.
Pro-Football Focus believes Alford has regressed in his age 30 season. In fact, they ranked their secondary 14th in the entire league. Alford allowed a catch rate that was over 12 percentage points higher than 2017, and he also allowed 175 more yards than he did a season ago. His 138.9 passer rating and 12 penalties were second-worst and worst, respectively, in the NFL.
It will be interesting to see if these stats are outliers or indicative of true regression.
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