Falcons' Taylor Heinicke: Accepts pay cut

Heinicke took a pay cut in March to stay with the Falcons, reducing his $5 million base salary to $1.21 million, ESPN.com's Michael Rothstein reports.

He also converted a $1.32 million roster bonus to a signing bonus and agreed to remove the $40,000 per-game roster bonuses from his contract. He's left with $2.53 million in real-money compensation for the second and final year of his deal, with a $4.53 million cap hit. Heinicke is in excellent position for the backup QB role behind Kirk Cousins, after Desmond Ridder was traded to Arizona for Rondale Moore in mid-March. The Falcons still have time to bring in competition, but it may not be a priority given that Heinicke's track record suggests he's qualified for the second spot on the depth chart. They'll at least need to bring in a camp arm or two, seeing as Cousins and Heinicke are the only QBs on the roster at the beginning of April.