Report: Falcons to release veteran OL James Carpenter

Another longtime veteran is hitting the free agent market. The Falcons will release offensive lineman James Carpenter, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.

Carpenter came into the league as a tackle when he was drafted in the first round by the Seahawks way back in 2011 but was quickly switched to guard. He started 13 games for Atlanta this past season and 11 the year before. The Alabama product spent his first four years in Seattle, then signed a four-year deal with the Jets in 2015.

He completed that deal and started all 16 games for New York in three of those seasons. He signed a four-year, $21M deal with Atlanta in 2019 but obviously only made it halfway through that pact. The Falcons will save a little over $4M in 2021 cap space by cutting him.

The Super Bowl XLVIII champion has never made the Pro Bowl, but with 121 career starts under his belt, he should draw plenty of interest from teams looking for veteran O-line help. He’s joining a now crowded guard market but won’t have much trouble finding a new home.