Inside the Atlanta Falcons' three-year hunt for a franchise quarterback, including talks of Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson before settling on Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder, paving the way for Kirk Cousins.
Blank, donning a white button-up dress shirt, thought he'd landed an innovative offensive mind to pair with 35-year-old quarterbackFast forward to Jan. 8, 2024, when Blank, wearing a salmon dress shirt underneath a black blazer, is once more seated, this time alongside CEO Rich McKay, some 22 months after trading Ryan and 16 hours removed from firing Smith.
But as the Falcons' playoff window from the mid-to-late-2010s closed and Atlanta suffered its fourth consecutive losing season in 2021, the possibility of Ryan leaving became more realistic. “Whether it’s related to compensation or it’s related to annual performance, you have to make that judgment and move on.”The Falcons didn't have a solution to replace Ryan. Given the chance to draft a successor at No. 4 overall in Smith and Fontenot's first year, they instead made Kyle Pitts the highest-drafted tight end in league history.Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
“At some point, you have to decide, ‘Should we move on and try to do a reset and have another 14-year run with another version of Matt Ryan?’” Blank said. “Which is incredibly difficult to duplicate because he’s a special player and a special human being as well. Even looking back with hindsight – I don’t think we would have done anything differently at that time.”
“We pursued it to a point,” Blank said. “Then at some point, it didn’t make sense for us, so we became just an observer. It was not a long discussion we had about Deshaun. We went through a little bit of the process with him.The Falcons were believed to be pursuing Watson until the final hour of his process, which ultimately concluded with the decision to join the Cleveland Browns, who offered a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract.
Atlanta wanted to set up a transition plan. Blank cited the Green Bay Packers, who went from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love, as a strong example of what it could’ve looked like. This memory entered McKay’s head when the Falcons were met with the possibility of signing Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson during free agency in the spring of 2023.
The Falcons had a fruitful offseason that featured several big contracts, including deals that made Chris Lindstrom the highest-paid guard and Jessie Bates III the fourth highest-paid safety in NFL history. Both proceeded to earn Pro Bowl and All-Pro nods in 2023. Blank said he doesn’t believe it was a mistake to avoid offering Jackson, though it may be easy to say so considering the season he put together. Blank called Jackson an incredible player who had a great year.
Such a move allows financial flexibility and doesn’t signal long-term commitment. It also doesn’t come with a particularly extensive list of success stories. But after four backbreaking defeats in a five-game span saw Atlanta go from NFC South leaders to a slumping 5-8 squad, it was Ridder’s time. When the Falcons finalized their decision to start Ridder, they did so with much more evidence than just his four-game run to end 2022.
Ridder was benched twice, watching as veteran backup Taylor Heinicke took over the reins for a pair of two-game stretches. Little changed other than the name under center. Blank called the Falcons’ quarterback play deficient. He also directed attention away from those actually throwing the passes. “I know that I did, and I know that Mr. McKay did as well – any option that the coach ever wanted relative to quarterback or any other position was completely supported by all of us 1,000 percent,” Blank said. “One thousand percent, without any equivocation.”The Falcons’ first step in righting the wrongs of the previous three years started at the top, where Blank decided Raheem Morris offered the polish Smith didn’t.
Morris and the coaching staff provided information to Blank, Fontenot, assistant general manager Kyle Smith and the rest of the college scouting department.Morris is no stranger to coaching without quality play under center. In his first year as a head coach - 2009 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - he saw three different quarterbacks draw starts.
“He's a very high-quality quarterback,” Blank said. “He's performed at a high level for 12 years in the league and feel pretty fortunate having him as a quarterback and look forward to seeing the results with him. He has all the intangibles, not just the tangibles, but the intangibles.Morris has an extensive track record with Cousins; Morris was the defensive backs coach with the now-Washington Commanders when Cousins was drafted in 2012, and the two were colleagues through 2014.
Given a roster capable of contending, Morris intends on proving he’s a better coach - a changed coach - than his 21-38 career record indicates.“It was more about the opportunity to go out there and win, because we're built to win,” Morris said. “We got people that we can win with and we got such a great building. I thought it was a good idea to go find a quarterback to help us win right now.
Atlanta Falcons Free Agency Lamar Jackson Kirk Cousins
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