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Offseason In Review: Atlanta Falcons

September 7th, 2024 at 10:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

It is difficult to come up with an offseason that featured this much Falcons discussion. Perhaps 2007. But this one brought three storylines that helped shape the NFL over the past several months. Three straight 7-10 seasons, which followed three previous non-playoff efforts, had made the Falcons into one of the league’s least interesting teams. Atlanta’s coaching search, free agency period and the draft — and even some post-draft activity to build on what the team had already done in 2024 — made this a captivating club to follow.

Coaching/front office:

Joining Ron Rivera in entrusting his job to a quarterback plan most doubted, Smith saw two season-ending blowouts seal his fate. The former Titans OC could not turn Desmond Ridder into a reliable starter, benching him on multiple occasions. Considering Ridder’s 2024 trajectory, Smith faced too daunting a task. Ownership still canned the three-year HC and set its sights on a more experienced option. Being the only team to target the most experienced coach on the market turned out to backfire, as the process received endless scrutiny and fallout.

Targeting experience after hiring first-timers in his searches throughout his ownership tenure, Arthur Blank is believed to have initially wanted Belichick as his next head coach. After the two interviews the Patriots legend conducted, he was in the lead. The Falcons were moving closer to going with the most accomplished HC in the Super Bowl era, and on the morning of the Morris hire, Belichick still believed he would land the job. Changes during one of the most captivating searches in PFR’s history will be associated with Morris, through no fault of his own, as Falcons higher-ups took heat for not hiring Belichick.

A rumor about many in the NFL suspecting Belichick was interested in bringing ex-Patriot assistants Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia and Joe Judge with him came about as the candidate’s slide out of the lead chair for this job began. More significantly, turf protecting may well have taken place in Atlanta’s front office. Even though a report came out about Belichick being willing to cede personnel control — which he held throughout his New England tenure — CEO Rich McKay and GM Terry Fontenot would have naturally seen their power threatened had the longtime Patriots czar come aboard. Dot connecting certainly points to this duo steering Blank in another direction.

McKay, who has been with the Falcons since 2003, moved from the GM chair to the CEO role in 2008. He still wields considerable power within the organization, and a February report indicated the ex-Falcons and Buccaneers GM had a good relationship with Morris and conversely was not on the greatest terms with Belichick. Blank and McKay co-ran the search, with Fontenot providing input in his fourth year as GM, and an April examination revealed the Falcons did not end up ranking the 72-year-old leader in the top three for the job. With Morris the unanimous first choice, the McKay-Fontenot-Blank trio is believed to have respectively ranked Mike Macdonald and Bobby Slowik second and third.

Although a report that surfaced immediately after the Morris hire indicated McKay would step back from his role in football operations, he will certainly be tied to this decision. Football fans may have him to thank (perhaps blame) for Belichick’s upcoming media blitz this season.

As it stands, Fontenot remains in place as the team’s football ops boss. Belichick, who would have been the oldest HC hire in NFL history by six years, was seen as a short-term play by the Falcons and would have threatened Fontenot’s place in the power structure due to sheer experience. The six-time Super Bowl-winning HC figures to run into age-related hurdles as he tries to return to the league in 2025 as well. While Belichick-NFC East connections have subsequently emerged, Morris has a second chance.

Atlanta also interviewed Jim Harbaugh but saw the Michigan leader cancel a second interview, as he zeroed in on Los Angeles. Morris, 48, will make a historically quick return to a team that had employed him as its interim HC for most of the 2020 season.

Morris broke into the NFL as an assistant under McKay in Tampa and remained well liked among Falcons players still left from his interim stay. The former Bucs HC worked as a Falcons assistant (on both the defensive and offensive sides) from 2015-20 and bolstered his credentials for a second chance after winning a Super Bowl ring as Rams DC.

The Sean McVay tree has also produced promotions for several defensive coaches, with Morris following Brandon Staley as a Rams DC to receive a top job. Benefiting considerably from Aaron Donald‘s presence, Morris did not produce a top-12 defensive ranking in points or yardage in L.A. Being 24 years younger than Belichick obviously helped Morris’ cause, as did his past with McKay and the Falcons. Morris enters this season 21-38 as a head coach, but this Falcons roster may be the best he has helmed. Morris’ Bucs stay overlapped almost entirely with Josh Freeman‘s QB1 stint.

A few teams targeted Zac Robinson as OC, but once Morris took over in Atlanta, he quickly brought the ex-Rams QBs coach with him. The former Oklahoma State quarterback has been on McVay’s staff since 2019. Robinson, 38, has only worked for the Rams, moving up to pass-game coordinator in 2022. With teams continuing to gravitate toward McVay staffers, Robinson probably would have had multiple options — particularly after Puka Nacua‘s rookie-year dominance — to begin an OC career.

Lake’s resume is more complicated. Although he coached with Morris in Tampa and L.A., Lake is still best known for his quick dismissal as Washington’s HC. An incident in which Lake appeared to strike a player on the sidelines preceded another complaint emerging against the Huskies’ then-HC, and the school fired him in November 2021. Lake, who spent part of Morris’ Bucs stint coaching DBs, resurfaced as a Rams assistant HC in 2023. No other team sought a Lake DC interview this offseason, and he will begin this season as the Falcons’ defensive play-caller.

Free agency additions:

The Vikings were not willing to offer Cousins a deal comparable to the offer the Falcons submitted. Cousins-Atlanta connections came out in early March, and although both the QB and Vikings brass had said they wanted to huddle up for a fourth contract, hitting the open market once again — despite coming off an Achilles tear and entering an age-36 season — opened the door to lucrative outside bids. Being a proven above-average quarterback still brings big opportunities.

Cousins and the Vikings engaged in negotiations last year, but the sides disagreed on Year 3 guarantees. This led to a restructure, one the Vikings are paying for now. Even as $28.5MM was set to accelerate onto Minnesota’s 2024 cap, the Vikings stood down. They had a farfetched scenario in which Cousins could be their bridge QB before a rookie eventually took over (the irony), but Cousins wanted more than being a year-to-year option. One of the shrewdest financial operators in NFL history maximized his value once again by hitting the open market, and the Falcons — a year after Blank expressed excitement in building a roster around Ridder’s rookie contract — returned to the franchise-QB payment business.

Atlanta was linked to Justin Fields and Baker Mayfield, but Cousins rumors took over — as the ex-Rams staffers were not interested in Fields — in the days leading up to the legal tampering period. Other than the 2007 Joey Harrington signing in an emergency circumstance, this is the first Falcons free agency play for a starting quarterback since they signed Bobby Hebert from the Saints in 1993 — full-fledged free agency’s debut. In the years since, they had used the trade market (Jeff George, Chris Chandler) and the draft (Michael Vick, Matt Ryan, Ridder) to staff the position. Cousins brings risk, due to age and the October 2023 Achilles tear, but he has also been a dependably productive passer since usurping Robert Griffin III in Washington.

Cousins had thrown an NFL-most 18 touchdown passes when he went down, finishing off a three-TD day in Green Bay, and carries no previous injury baggage to Atlanta. Aaron Rodgers is also recovering from the same injury; he is nearly five years older.

Cousins could not elevate the Vikings to the Super Bowl precipice; the team missed the playoffs in three of his five healthy seasons. But the QB, who was blessed with Justin Jefferson and the Stefon Diggs–Adam Thielen pair before that, regularly put up stats. Cousins finished with three 30-plus-TD seasons in Minnesota. Though, he never finished in the top 12 in QBR as a Viking. The former fourth-round pick did rank seventh in the metric in his eight-game 2023 season. He received full clearance early in training camp.

The Falcons lost a fifth-round pick for tampering regarding their pursuits of Cousins and Mooney, whom the QB told his new team he would help recruit. This came before players could agree to deals, leading to a light punishment. Mooney will come over after two mediocre Bears years, but the former fifth-round find’s 2021 1,000-yard season clearly still resided in execs’ minds, as it took the Falcons matching the Jaguars’ three-year, $39MM Gabe Davis deal to land Mooney. The Chiefs and Titans were linked to Mooney as well.

Mooney, 26, ranked 39th in yards per route run in 2021 — Allen Robinson‘s franchise tag season that ended up revealing the veteran’s decline — and totaled 1,055 yards that year. He combined for 907 yards under OC Luke Getsy. Mooney’s fortunes should improve under Cousins, who consistently fed Thielen, Diggs and Jefferson while keeping K.J. Osborn regularly involved as well. The Falcons have not seen a productive receiving duo in a while, with the Julio Jones–Calvin Ridley pair last seeing substantial time together in 2019.

DeMarcco Hellams‘ ankle injury sped up Simmons’ market, which underwhelmed for much of the offseason. While Hellams is on IR with a return designation, the would-be Falcons starter is unlikely — barring an injury — to re-emerge in such a role.

Simmons and Jessie Bates instantly became one of the NFL’s best safety tandems. After Bates’ six-INT Falcons debut, the team added the player with the most combined picks (30) since 2016. The Broncos, thanks largely to Russell Wilson‘s dead money albatross, needed to cut costs and are making an effort to use younger players. Simmons’ high salary became a target early, and he resided in free agency for five months.

One of the second-team All-Pro squad’s chief ambassadors, Simmons anchored the Broncos’ secondary for most of his tenure. Denver could not overcome its QB issues during the talented safety’s seven-year run as a starter, but it regularly fielded viable defenses. Simmons, who has earned a second-team All-Pro nod in four of the past five seasons, visited the Falcons and Saints in early August but will join a reloading Atlanta team that now houses a few accomplished vets on defense.

Re-signings:

Notable losses:

Neither of the Falcons’ co-sack leaders from 2023 are back, as the team’s decade-plus effort to find steady pressure artists continues. Fontenot did not rule out a Campbell return, but after he played for $7MM in Atlanta and matched Dupree with 6.5 sacks, the 38-year-old veteran landed in Miami at veteran-minimum money. Dupree, 31, also came up as a re-sign candidate but soon agreed to be a Chargers rotational rusher behind Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack. This influenced the Falcons’ draft plan, though not in the way most anticipated.

Had Cousins not signed, the team was planning to use that money to add a top-end defensive free agent. Christian Wilkins and Danielle Hunter were on the radar, but Atlanta needed to circle back to these needs later after Cousins did sign.

The ire directed toward Arthur Smith did not only come from Bijan Robinson fantasy GMs, as those with vested interest in Kyle Pitts success saw Jonnu Smith form a solid one-two punch at the position. After two dormant seasons in New England, Smith resurfaced with a 582-yard, three-TD season reminiscent of his Titans form. The Falcons used his reworked contract as a tool to create cap space, leading the veteran to the Dolphins along with Campbell.

Patterson rejoined Smith in Pittsburgh, which makes sense given the impact the three-year Atlanta HC had on the versatile weapon’s career. Previously known for washing out as a Vikings wide receiver but avoiding first-round bust status by becoming one of the best kick returners in NFL history, Patterson became the rare player to debut as a starting running back after age 30. Smith gave Patterson 153- and 144-carry seasons, and with Ridley out of the picture for mental health reasons, the veteran return man joined Pitts in carrying the Falcons’ final Matt Ryan offense. Patterson scored 11 touchdowns that season.

Robinson’s arrival changed the Falcons’ Patterson plan, but he will play a 12th season thanks in part to Smith joining the Steelers and the NFL greenlighting a revamped kickoff that should (in theory) revitalize the play.

A former No. 3 overall pick, Okudah started nine games last season. With the Texans adding the fifth-year vet, the Falcons have some questions to answer at corner. Not that Okudah was a steady performer opposite AJ Terrell, but the Falcons currently have Mike Hughes — who took a backseat to Okudah in 2023 — ticketed to start on the boundary opposite Terrell. A 2018 Vikings first-rounder, Hughes is on team No. 4. He has seen time outside and in the slot as a pro; Dee Alford remains Atlanta’s slot patrolman.

Draft:

Preventing the top 10 from going chalk, the Falcons hatched a scheme that does not have a parallel in the free agency era. Yes, the Packers drafted Jordan Love with Aaron Rodgers still on the roster. Ditto the Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes and Alex Smith. But no team has come remotely close to the Falcons’ idea, which has brought relentless criticism and curiosity.

Giving a quarterback a $100MM practical guarantee and then drafting his near-future replacement in the top 10 six weeks later represents new territory in the modern NFL. When asked if he still would have signed with the Falcons if he knew this would happen, Cousins did not confirm yay or nay. While it would have been difficult to turn down an offer that surely came in much higher than any other proposal, Cousins is now on the clock in a way he never was in Minnesota.

Although Cousins was stunned by the Falcons’ decision — which he learned about from his new team minutes before it happened — rumors about this unorthodox approach emerged weeks before the draft. Falcons brass has referenced the Packers’ Love plan on a few occasions this offseason. Some differences apply in that Love was 21 when the Packers traded up for him; Penix is 24 after a six-year college career. The Pack also added Love at No. 26, while the Falcons swooped in for their Cousins heir apparent at 8.

Blank offered an unusual account of the move months later as well. The owner indicated the team’s plan was not to draft a quarterback in Round 1 but pointed to Penix falling to 8 being too good to pass up. Few expected the southpaw arm to be drafted that high, however, hence Cousins’ shock. As it stands, the Falcons are prepared to have Penix back up Cousins for at least a season. This will create a fascinating backdrop and certainly one Cousins did not anticipate being part of with his third NFL team.

Like Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix, Penix used a transfer to boost his draft stock. Suffering four major injuries while at Indiana, Penix shook free of health issues at Washington and thrived in Ryan Grubb‘s offense. He led Division I-FBS in passing yards (4,903) — his second straight 4,600-plus-yard showing — and powered the Huskies to their first national championship opportunity since 1991. Falcons scout Joel Collier handled the initial review on Penix that ultimately led the franchise to draft him, and coaches around the league were believed to be higher on him compared to scouts.

A QB controversy at some point — perhaps even this season — seems inevitable, despite organization assurances nothing of the sort is coming. Cousins is locked into $90MM and secured $10MM for 2026, giving the Falcons an out after two years. It would be interesting to see Penix shelved until his age-26 season, and this pick points to Cousins needing to find a fourth team to wrap his career.

The Falcons, who then parked Penix after one preseason game, used the draft to instantly transform into a much more interesting operation — and perhaps, if the team is right, a higher-ceiling outfit — compared to their post-Super Bowl LI versions.

Recognizing the Penix pick cut off access to this draft’s top edge rushers, Fontenot attempted to engineer his way back into Round 1 with Laiatu Latu as the primary target. The team had attempted to acquire the Jets’ No. 10 overall pick without giving up No. 8, and even after the Colts took Latu at 15, the Falcons made an offer for the Seahawks’ No. 16 choice on a complicated night for the franchise. Nothing materialized, and Atlanta’s top need remained unfilled. With Trice then suffering a season-ending injury, Fontenot needed to come up with another plan.

Atlanta regrouped and traded up for Orhorhoro early in Round 2. The Clemson product joins Jarrett and David Onyemata up front, profiling as a rotational piece for the time being. Orhorhoro was a consistently disruptive presence with the Tigers, registering eight tackles for loss in each of his three seasons as a starter while piling up 11.5 sacks over that same period.

Jarrett is coming off an ACL tear at 31, and Onyemata will turn 32 in November. It made sense for Atlanta to add help here, though the team’s second-round pick obviously became a footnote during one of the more eventful drafts in franchise history.

Trades:

The Jets’ John Abraham curse receives more attention, but the Falcons have been unable to find a steady pass rusher since separating with the Pro Bowl EDGE in 2013. They turned toward one of the few key veterans new Patriots GM Eliot Wolf did not pay this offseason.

After Judon’s dispute with Wolf and Jerod Mayo during an August practice prompted trade inquiries, the Falcons faced off against the Bears in a trade duel for a defensive end once again. Chicago GM Ryan Poles was more eager to have Judon extension terms worked out, while the Falcons have him on his Patriots-constructed deal. This brought an end to part of Judon’s offseason saga, which stripped the top edge rusher from a rebuilding roster.

Both the Bears and Falcons offered third-round picks, with Judon determining a better path existed in Atlanta. The Falcons do not have a notable edge rusher contract on their books, whereas the Bears extended Montez Sweat — a Falcons 2023 trade target — at a top-10 rate last year. At 32, Judon is also much older and in search of what would be a third contract. Though, Judon did not make it sound like he will force the issue with the Falcons early. This surprisingly comes after he angled for a Patriots extension for months, seeing the Pats’ Christian Barmore deal accelerate his interest in securing better terms.

Of course, Judon recognized he was not in position for a top-market pact after suffering a season-ending biceps injury in Week 4. He still wanted an arrangement with more than $6.5MM in base salary coming his way. The Patriots already augmented Judon’s salary before last season, moving money up to 2023. Wolf and Co. offered sweeteners to Judon this year; Judon denied a notable proposal came his way. A report soon pegged the Patriots as having grown tired of the veteran’s act, and they collected a third-rounder for a player who did not appear in their post-2024 plans.

On the field, Judon drove the Pats’ pass rush from 2021-22. The former Ravens franchise tag recipient combined for 28 sacks in those seasons and posted at least 20 QB hits each year from 2017-22. Missing on Vic Beasley and Takk McKinley, the Falcons are desperate for edge aid to complement Jarrett. Judon now anchors a group housing rotational-level veteran Lorenzo Carter and 2022 second-round pick Arnold Ebiketie (six 2023 sacks). Atlanta has not employed a consistent edge presence since Abraham’s seven-year tenure wrapped. Judon will aim to be that player and at least score a medium-term deal — perhaps the 2025 UFA-to-be’s only realistic goal at this age — for doing so.

A Ridder trade rumor surfaced shortly before the Falcons’ March swap. The team cut bait days after adding Cousins. This looks to be a nothing trade for 2024 purposes. Moore is out for the season with a knee injury, and the Cardinals made Ridder their practice squad QB after he failed to beat out Clayton Tune. Moore’s contract expires after this season.

Blank, Fontenot and Arthur Smith heaped praise upon Ridder, who had overtaken Mariota late in the 2022 season. Like every other non-Brock Purdy passer from the ’22 draft, Ridder underwhelmed. The former Cincinnati standout joined Kenny Pickett and Malik Willis in being traded this offseason. The other QB chosen in that disappointing class’ first three rounds, Matt Corral, is out of the league. Ridder went 6-7 as a starter, throwing 12 TD passes and 12 INTs (while ranking 26th in QBR) in a campaign that made the Falcons look foolish for not pursuing an upgrade that offseason.

Heinicke, 31, replaced Ridder on multiple occasions last season. The Atlanta native, who has seen steady work since an unlikely duel with Tom Brady in the 2020 wild-card round, took a pay cut to stay with the Falcons — in between the team’s Cousins and Penix moves — but did not expect to make their 53-man roster following their draft decision. Heinicke becomes a backup upgrade for a Chargers team that had not seen the recently re-signed Easton Stick fare well in Greg Roman‘s offense.

Extensions and restructures:

Terrell outdid the first batch of cornerbacks to sign extensions this offseason, becoming the first CB to land a deal north of $20MM per year since Jaire Alexander in 2022. While Patrick Surtain and Jalen Ramsey‘s ensuing deals have bumped Terrell from second to fourth at the position, the 2020 first-rounder still cashed in big with the team that drafted him.

Despite arriving during Thomas Dimitroff‘s final draft as Falcons GM, Terrell trekked to Atlanta when Raheem Morris was in place as the team’s DC. This extension, which dropped Terrell’s 2024 cap number by $4MM, doubles as the team’s first major Falcons CB commitment since both Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford were on second contracts together in the late 2010s.

Not a ballhawk at this point in his career (zero INTs from 2022-23), Terrell nevertheless was Atlanta’s top corner during his rookie-contract stretch. A second-team All-Pro in 2021, Terrell intercepted three passes and broke up 16 that year and graded as PFF’s No. 2 overall corner. The Falcons will hope this extension includes more turnover impact, but the soon-to-be 26-year-old cover man’s presence — coupled with less reliable cogs at the team’s other CB posts — stands to deter QBs from testing the Clemson alum consistently.

Other:

In addition to Cousins’ arrival carrying career-changing potential for Drake London, the Ridder and Marcus Mariota setups also held back Pitts. Injuries restrained the former top-five pick as well, and while that remains a concern, it is important to recall only Pitts and Mike Ditka (1961) have eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards as rookie tight ends. Pitts’ potential proved sufficient for the Falcons to exercise his option.

The MCL tear Pitts sustained in 2022 hampered him in 2023 as well, though he still played 17 games and amassed 667 yards. Pitts has not been a red zone threat during his pro career (six touchdowns, after scoring 12 in his final Florida slate), but it checks out that the Falcons are giving the 23-year-old weapon two more seasons to prove himself.

Cousins revitalizing the former No. 4 overall pick could point him toward the tight end salary ceiling. It is premature to suggest Pitts could score a record-setting TE extension, but the gap between this versatile position and the WR ceiling currently sits at nearly $18MM per year. Travis Kelce‘s $17.1MM-AAV deal leads all tight ends; Justin Jefferson ($35MM per annum) paces receivers in a much higher NFL tax bracket.

Although other young tight ends showed promise to break the ice at this position, Pitts is extension-eligible before the likes of Trey McBride, Sam LaPorta and Dalton Kincaid. The Atlanta TE’s fourth season will be one to follow, as this market — one restrained by the Patriots never giving Rob Gronkowski a third contract and Kelce taking Chiefs-friendly deals despite his dominance — remains well south of $20MM per.

Top 10 cap charges for 2024:

  1. Kirk Cousins, QB: $25MM
  2. Jake Matthews, LT: $21.77MM
  3. Grady Jarrett, DT: $20.38MM
  4. Kaleb McGary, RT: $12.5MM
  5. David Onyemata, DT: $12.5MM
  6. Kyle Pitts, TE: $10.47MM
  7. Jessie Bates, S: $10MM
  8. Chris Lindstrom, G: $9MM
  9. Kaden Elliss, LB: $8.5MM
  10. AJ Terrell, CB: $8.34MM

No longer mediocre and boring, the Falcons used this change-of-pace offseason to rocket back toward NFC South favorite status. The Buccaneers are the champs of the NFL’s worst division until dethroned, but Vegas has the Falcons as the frontrunners. It took an eventful ride for the team to arrive here, and its complex QB plan runs the risk of combusting. The Falcons are attempting to play for now and later, and the Judon and Simmons moves should help provide some cover for the team passing on a high-ceiling defensive piece in the draft.

This blueprint may not be enough to threaten the NFC’s best teams this season; Cousins could not do that with the Vikings. But the Falcons will place a strong offensive line (PFF’s No. 4 blocking quintet last season) in front of their immobile QB and finally have a passer equipped to generate necessary production from their highly drafted skill players. Plenty of attention will come the team’s way if this plan succeeds or fails. From an attention standpoint, few teams have changed their equation to this degree in recent NFL history.

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