It felt like the Falcons were getting younger this offseason with the release of a number of veterans, including Brooks Reed, Matt Bryant, Bruce Irvin, Andy Levitre, and Derrick Shelby, but the team remains surprisingly old.

The young core of defensive playmakers is apparently surrounded by a group of elderly players. Jimmy Kempski runs the numbers every offseason, and yet again, the Falcons are one of the older teams in the NFL.

Number of players over 30, by team: pic.twitter.com/03pP5nGnBd — Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) May 26, 2019

How is this even possible? Newly signed players like Luke Stocker, Adam Gettis, Adrian Clayborn, James Carpenter, and Kenjon Barner are 30 or above to go with the familiar over-30 crowd of Matt Schaub, Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Alex Mack, Matt Bosher, and a few depth players. That puts the Falcons at 14 players over 30, with about six expected as starters.

Considering those starters are Matt Ryan, Alex Mack, Matt Bosher, Julio Jones, Josh Harris, and Jack Crawford, that’s not a bad setup. This is sometimes a concerning stat suggesting teams are not built for the future. However, the Falcons have a number of successful drafts, have retained their players, and have not been big spenders in free agency.