The Atlanta Falcons, days after trading franchise quarterback Matt Ryan on Wednesday, admitted they were in the midst of a franchise-wide transition.
While general manager Terry Fonteno and coach Arthur Smith were reluctant to use the word “rebuilding”, Fonteno said the franchise is “taking charge this year” in terms of the team’s dead money.
Atlanta is being charged with more than $62 million in forfeiture following Monday’s deal that sent Ryan to the Colts and a 2021 deal with the Titans that sent former star wide receiver Julio Jones to Tennessee.
But the Falcons don’t see it as a recovery. It is, as Fonteno said, “not something we ever want to say.” But no matter how management wants to classify it, the Falcons are clearly entering a transition time.
“I don’t know what kind of coach would coach a team and say, ‘Hey guys, we’re rebuilding,'” Smith said. “I understand where we are – we are in transition. And there are certain elements, you are constantly rebuilding in the NFL. Your line-up changes from year to year so much.
“It’s more of a team philosophy in the players who compete here every day and in the coaches. I understand that you are talking about the big picture, and I do not deny it. But I’m just talking about your ward. when you play in the National Football League: our goal is to win football games.”
Nowhere is this more evident for the Falcons than at quarterback, where the Falcons traded Ryan, signed Marcus Mariota, the 2015 No. 2 pick, and considered trading for Deshawn Watson.
The Falcons, who offered Ryan a third-round draft pick, said the 14-year-old veteran was involved in conversations about his possible trade — in terms of allowing him to connect with other teams and determine areas he would like to be involved in. . play.
Fonteno said that Atlanta considered trading Ryan before the possibility of acquiring Watson presented itself, and that when they decided to sell the former MVP, they wanted him to have his say, even if it meant maybe not getting as much compensation. as might the Falcons. got to another place.
“We could have a drawn out process and we bought him, went through it and traded him to where he didn’t want to be,” Fonteno said. “But we talked about it. We said that if we’re going down this path, we want to do the right thing with Matt. And he has to be part of it.”
Smith also said he was excited to be working with Mariota, who signed with the Falcons hours after the Ryan trade. Mariota previously played under Smith in Tennessee when he was offensive coordinator in 2019 — the same year, Mariota was demoted to a reserve role after Ryan Tannehill.
“He and I have grown a lot,” Smith said. “I mean, ironically, [Mariota and Tannehill] completely different players, but Ryan Tannehill was in that situation when he got there. So Marcus is a high-end talent, like Ryan, he was selected in the first round and is at a different stage in his career.
“I trust Marcus, and Marcus, he is going to come here and give us everything he has. He has a high-class talent and he understands what happened in the past. He learned from them, I learned from them, and you feel excited about this opportunity.”
Fonteno, however, said the Falcons will add at least one more quarterback — now only Mariota and sophomore Feleipe Franks are on the roster — either through free agency or in the draft next month.
Fonteno said, “We’re not going to do what we don’t like.” The Falcons attended Malik Willis’ pro day at Liberty Tuesday and plan to also attend pro days this week for Matt Corral at Ole Miss and Desmond Ridder at Cincinnati.
While the Falcons may have considered moving Ryan before engaging in trade talks with Watson, this harassment that was made public made it clear that the Falcons were interested in making the move.
Fonteno and Smith declined to say whether they spoke to any of the 22 women who filed lawsuits in Harris County, Texas against Watson with charges ranging from sexual assault to inappropriate behavior, or to the woman’s lawyer, Toni Bazby. They also did not say if they had read any of the 22 complaints. Buzby told ESPN on Sunday that he has not spoken to any NFL team.
“We’re not going to interfere with our process,” Smith said. “We will not be making any potential deals with any potential player. We understand the seriousness of the questions you are asking, but we are also not going to comment on the ongoing civil case.”
However, Fonteno said that when the Falcons looked into Watson, the franchise executives “made a collective decision” they wanted to “explore” a deal for him. According to Fonteno, the Falcons never felt that Watson would necessarily be in Atlanta.
Fonteno said that if Watson had chosen Atlanta it would have been “such a layered process” that would have involved negotiations with the Texans and “additional research” that it wouldn’t have been as easy as Watson saying he wants to play with the Falcons .
However, Atlanta did not get Watson, and instead traded Ryan and acquired Mariota, beginning a transition that franchise management knew was eventually going to happen.
“Our challenge is not to get stuck in such an uncertain area,” Smith said. “We’re going to build it right. And we’re going to be competitive this year. This is our duty as a team, as a coach, no one sits and talks about restructuring.”