Atlanta is showing how familiarity and freedom to build can pay off. Plus, concern about the Jets and one particular free agent group.
. After less than 15 minutes of film work, my mindset had totally shifted. The Falcons defense made me take notice.
And before you say, “It’s about time,” remember that the Falcons have had to rely solely on the draft and sit on their hands when it came to spending money because of the prior regime’s cap decisions. They couldn’t really commit new money to their roster until a purge happened. And the big overhaul could not happen until they jettisoned’s contract, for starters. That took guts to execute, and I applaud them for being calculated and committed.
When you take over a rebuild of an NFL franchise, you have to be very intentional with your moves, and the sooner you can be aligned as a football staff, the smoother the transition will go. A new general manager can identify most easily the players and coaches from their old team who fit the new vision. I always examine how many staffers and players follow a new leader to another franchise. If the number is very low, it’s almost a red flag.
Let’s look at the case of Falcons GM Terry Fontenot. He had to wait two full seasons to clear up cap space in order to make any progress. That tests the patience of fans, the media and even those inside a building. Finally this offseason the timing aligned for that transformation to happen. Although this collection of contributors is far from complete, Fontenot reached into his past to build the current version of the Falcons. First, he plucked Ryan Nielsen from his former team, the, to coordinate the Falcons defense. Fontenot’s and Nielsen’s familiarity allowed them to quickly rebuild a defense that finished near the bottom in most categories in 2022. That was not the fault of now-retired former defensive coordinator Dean Pees. They just didn’t have the horses.