Crumpler, Leftwich Cap casualties

I guess I need to keep that "Will work for food" sign around longer for former Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons players. Following the lead of Miami's releasing of veterans: Trent Green, Marty Booker, Zach Thomas and others, the Atlanta Falcons went on a firing spree of their own today highlighed by releasing Pro Bowl TE Alge Crumpler and Byron Leftwich among others. I wouldn't be surprised to see a few additional names such as Keith Brooking, Warrick Dunn, Lawyer Malloy and Joey Harrington added to that list soon. Here are some comments from Falcons new GM Thomas Dimitroff:

"This is a difficult day for the entire organization."

"These decisions weren't easy, but we felt they were necessary to build a team in the long-term best interest of the Falcons and its fans."

The Falcons can also thank Mike Vick for this situation. Since they cannot recover his signing bonus it put the Falcons salary cap in terrible shape.

Bill Parcells to Falcons

It's being reported on ESPN that Bill Parcells will be named the Vice President of Football Operations for the Atlanta Falcons. The announcement may be made as soon as today. This also likely means the end of the Rich McKay era as GM of the Falcons, although some are saying Arthur Blank may offer him another job in the front office, should McKay choose to stay on. As a Cowboy fan I have nothing but admiration and respect for Parcells. He took the Boys out of the dark ages of Chan Gailey and Dave Campo. While Wade Phillips has done a great job of coaching them, nobody can deny that Parcells built most of the 12-2 team the Cowboys have today. I believe he will do a tremendous job of rebuilding the Falcons franchise. Arthur Blank is a great owner and I'm sure he will provide Parcells with the resources(mostly money) to bring the franchise back from the dumps.

Two big questions facing Parcells are who will he bring in as Head Coach? And who will be the Falcons QB both next year and in the future? Knowing Parcells he almost certainly will try and get a coach from "his coaching tree", meaning Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels could be in the running after studying under Parcells disciple Bill Belicheck. I also might as well throw Charlie Weis name out there. He may choose a different route and if that is true I'm sure Mike Singletary will get heavy consideration. As for a QB I fully expect the Falcons to address the future of QB through the draft possibly taking Boston College QB Matt Ryan. For the immediate future at QB you can be sure a "Parcells guy" like Chad Pennington will be a target of the Falcons this offseason, but you could never count out a Vinny Testaverde/Bill Parcells reunion. Personally, I think Donovan McNabb would be a great fit in Atlanta. Parcells is familiar with McNabb, having faced him at least twice a year as the Dallas Head Coach.

After a terrible offseason with Michael Vick and an awful 3-11 season, made worse by Bobby Petrino quitting on the team, Falcons fans can start feeling good because Parcells improves every team he's affiliated with. His track record of taking broken franchises and making them contenders is flawless. He won Super Bowls with the Giants, took the Patriots from the worst team in the league to the Super Bowl, turned around the Jets franchise from laughing stock to competitors in the AFC, and restored the winning tradition of the Dallas Cowboys. Brighter days are headed for Atlanta, the Big Tuna is Back.