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The Falcons need help on pass rush. And they might need more help if Osi Umenyiora isn't willing to take the pay cut Atlanta is reportedly asking him to.
Per Mike Garafalo of Fox Sports, the Falcons want Osi to make less money than the $3.5 million he's set to earn in 2014.
Problem: Osi doesn't like taking paycuts. We learned that when he was with the Giants. (And frankly, who can blame him? No one likes taking paycuts.)
It also doesn't help that Umenyiora led the Falcons in sacks with 7.5 in 2013 and was the only real threat of a pass rush they have.
Let's say he refuses to take a cut and the Falcons have to cut him ... well, suddenly they don't have much of anything in terms of weapons to attack opposing quarterbacks.
There's a draft class that features Khalil Mack and Jadeveon Clowney, but Atlanta also needs help protecting Matt Ryan. Their No. 6 pick could very well be used on an offensive lineman like Greg Robinson or Jake Matthews.
Free agency offers some options (Michael Johnson, Michael Bennett for example) but there's no sure-fire way to beef up their pass rush. And if they lost their top in-house option, it would only be worse.
