Atlanta Falcons 2012 Offseason: What to Do with Running Back Michael Turner?

NFL free agency is right around the corner, and that means the Atlanta Falcons will soon have to decide which of their 17 unrestricted free agents to re-sign and which to let go. However, one of the biggest questions facing the team this offseason actually regards the future of a player currently under contract: running back Michael Turner.   

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the Falcons might reduce Turner's role next season as they look to work reserve RB Jacquizz Rodgers more in the screen game. However, with Turner scheduled to make $5 million this year, is retaining him the right move? If the Falcons were smart about this, they'd trade Turner while he still has some value left.

Turner just turned 30 last month, an age historically known as the time running backs see a significant drop-off in production, but already has begun to look like a back in decline. After starting off the season with four 100-yard games through seven weeks, Turner only reached the century mark once before gaining 172 yards against the hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the regular-season finale.

Coupled with the fact he has carried the rock 1,189 times since signing with Atlanta in 2008—the league leader during that span—and Turner may very well see a sharp decline in 2012.

Trading Turner now would not only free up cap space and possibly result in higher draft picks for the Falcons but also allows for a quicker move away from the team's ground-and-pound style of the past four seasons to the vertical passing offense new Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter plans to implement—an offense that doesn't simply match up well with Turner's lack of pass catching skills.

Case in point: Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew averaged 46 catches a season when Koetter was Jacksonville's offensive coordinator from 2007 to 2011. Michael Turner? He tallied just 17 last year—a career record.

Not to mention the fact it only took Koetter one year to make the transition at starting running back from the aging Fred Taylor to the quicker, more versatile Jones-Drew in 2008.

You can bet he'll do the same in Atlanta.

However, who could fill the potential void left by Turner? One possible option might actually already be on the roster: Falcons backup RB Jason Snelling. Snelling, whom some see as a quicker and more agile version of Turner, showed he could not only carry the load with 613 yards rushing and four touchdowns in a 2009 season that saw Turner lost to injury for five games, but also proved to be a viable target for quarterback Matt Ryan, catching 30 passes out of the backfield for 259 yards and a touchdown.

Simply put, Turner is just too expensive to keep around in a "reduced role" next season, especially when considering there are cheaper backs—on the Falcons roster or elsewhere—that could do just as well, if not better, in Koetter's offense.