Herr Doktor 8,286 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 Expect the Falcons to pour significant resources into free agency Atlanta has too many holes to fix and a GM dedicated to digging up gems. By Dave Choate Feb 10, 2021, 12:00pm EST 29 Comments Share this story Share this on Facebook (opens in new window) Share this on Twitter (opens in new window) SHAREAll sharing options David John Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Under Thomas Dimitroff, the Falcons front office was good for at least one free agent splash per offseason unless money was very tight, in which case you could expect a lot of low grade signings for unexciting starters and depth. Sometimes those splashes worked out (Dontari Poe! Alex Mack!) and sometimes they didn’t (Ray Edwards! Dante Fowler Jr. so far! Tyson Jackson?), but if the Falcons had the cash you could bet on them swinging for big free agents at key positions of need. The mixed track record in free agency occasionally pushed Atlanta to new heights (Mack is a great example of this, as is Michael Turner) but often those players fell short of expectations, which in turn became one of the things that doomed Dimitroff in Atlanta. For the first time in many years, we really don’t have even a rough outline of what the new front office might be looking at in free agency. We can guess, though, and we can work off Terry Fontenot’s track record in New Orleans. That track record suggests that Fontenot will prioritize team fit and will mostly chase mid-tier free agents, at least at first with limited cap space to work with. If space is available and he’s identified a difference maker, however, the Falcons might open up Arthur Blank’s coinpurse. After all, Fontenot has already been part of a front office that was figured out there was always a way to free up cap space to get the guy you want, and this team lacks both difference makers and depth on both sides of the ball. The draft and some undrafted free agents, especially in a year where the Scouting Combine isn’t happening and meeting with and checking out prospects is more difficult, will make free agency an attractive avenue for Atlanta. As Tori McElhaney noted in her most recent free agency preview for the Falcons, Fontenot is no stranger to nabbing relatively affordable free agents who fit like gloves for his team’s vision. The following quote comes from Jeff Duncan, a longtime Saints beat writer who is currently at The Athletic: “Terry also has a keen eye for talent and understood how to find players who fit the vision of the Saints’ coaching staff and scheme. Demario Davis is by far his best free-agent signing. Few people had ever heard of him when the Saints brought him in, and he’s become a team captain, a leader and an All-Pro. But even more impressive has been Terry’s ability to beat the bushes and find mid- and veteran-minimum-level players to bolster the team’s depth and fill out the roster. Players like Malcom Brown, Latavius Murray, James Hurst, Nick Easton and Ty Montgomery have come in and played key roles and allowed the team to withstand attrition and injuries, which is so critical in today’s game.” We can quibble a bit about how well-known Davis was—he was a very good player for the Jets even if he wasn’t well-known—but the broader point he’s making fits. Davis had a career-high single year earning when he was 27 and in Cleveland at just $4.2 million, but the Saints gave him a big multi-year deal with typical creative accounting that averages more than $6 million per year. In Davis, Fontenot and the New Orleans front office saw a player who could lift their typically shaky linebacker group and provide a locker room presence and were willing to pay for it. For guys like Brown, Murray, Hurst (a Falcons free agent target, by the way) and others, it was about the intersection of team fit and cost for a team that needed to nail those kinds of free agency signings to stay afloat with their other significant expenditures. McElhaney’s blueprint for the offseason also includes one proven defensive difference maker—no Dante Fowler 2.0, even if he ultimately fares well in 2021—and coming out of the offseason without blowing up their fortunes in 2022 and 2023. All of that is sound and likely to be a very rough outline of what Atlanta gets up to in March and beyond, but you should fully expect a front office now led by a season pro personnel executive from one of the most cap-savvy teams in the league to make free agency a genuine priority. wnyfalconfan, PokerSteve, Lowndesfalc and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
athell 32,526 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 WiTh WhAt MoNeY?!?! Knight of God, Killing Floor, FalconinPA and 8 others 7 2 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mister pudding 3,280 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 3 minutes ago, athell said: WiTh WhAt MoNeY?!?! The Daywalker, JohnnyFranchise, gtech1 and 19 others 4 18 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
papachaz 19,262 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 3 minutes ago, athell said: WiTh WhAt MoNeY?!?! they gone ask all the board members to pitch in fiddy cent each..... egoprime II, athell, FalconinPA and 4 others 1 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Herr Doktor 8,286 Posted February 10 Author Share Posted February 10 2 minutes ago, papachaz said: they gone ask all the board members to pitch in fiddy cent each..... So, tree fiddy total? 🤣🤣🤣 egoprime II, Beast-N-Da-Sheetz, papachaz and 3 others 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
xSICKxWITHxITx 3,540 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 6 minutes ago, athell said: WiTh WhAt MoNeY?!?! It won't quite be as bad as people think. We can kick the can down the road more with MR, Julio, Grady, Matthews and make some cuts. I really think we add a FS in FA and some role players. Knight of God, Herr Doktor, Boise Falcon Fan and 2 others 2 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Herr Doktor 8,286 Posted February 10 Author Share Posted February 10 6 minutes ago, xSICKxWITHxITx said: It won't quite be as bad as people think. We can kick the can down the road more with MR, Julio, Grady, Matthews and make some cuts. I really think we add a FS in FA and some role players. Yep. xSICKxWITHxITx and egoprime II 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
celtiksage 2,718 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 12 minutes ago, athell said: WiTh WhAt MoNeY?!?! We can get under the cap by cutting 3 players and restructuring 3, none of them named Julio or Ryan. Just wait for it. We should know the new cap in the next 6 weeks. egoprime II, Herr Doktor, papachaz and 1 other 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FalconFanSince1969 15,529 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 1 minute ago, celtiksage said: We can get under the cap by cutting 3 players and restructuring 3, none of them named Julio or Ryan. Just wait for it. We should know the new cap in the next 6 weeks. Not only that but we could extend grady and or ryan. There's so many ways to manipulate it..... people get all worked up about the cap every year. Herr Doktor, papachaz, Vandy and 3 others 5 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
celtiksage 2,718 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 Just now, FalconFanSince1969 said: Not only that but we could extend grady and or ryan. There's so many ways to manipulate it..... people get all worked up about the cap every year. Yeah Grady, Matthews and DJones are the extensions that can free up a lot of cap. Then cut Carpenter, Allen and Bailey (?). I think it's Bailey. We can cut a few others too but their savings is smaller. Herr Doktor, egoprime II and gazoo 2 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
celtiksage 2,718 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 Hey for what it's worth, I bet TF knows our players better than our previous coaching staff did. 😅😅 Herr Doktor and ATLskinjob 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PokerSteve 27,896 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 10 minutes ago, FalconFanSince1969 said: Not only that but we could extend grady and or ryan. There's so many ways to manipulate it..... people get all worked up about the cap every year. Worked up? LOL. Ridiculous. Where would you possibly get that idea? egoprime II, FalconinPA, SipDirtyBird84 and 6 others 1 8 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcons007 24,303 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 Forget the cap, just go get players who fit the roster plans. No more washed up players or other teams cast offs. Falcons can free up to 68 M in cap space if they need to sign FA they like to sign. I don’t think they will want to free up 68M but it can be done. egoprime II and Herr Doktor 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
egoprime II 2,785 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 22 minutes ago, athell said: WiTh WhAt MoNeY?!?! 19 minutes ago, Mister pudding said: 16 minutes ago, Herr Doktor said: So, tree fiddy total? 🤣🤣🤣 8 minutes ago, celtiksage said: We can get under the cap by cutting 3 players and restructuring 3, none of them named Julio or Ryan. Just wait for it. We should know the new cap in the next 6 weeks. After making three cuts,,,,, Allen, Bailey and Carpenter.... and some restructures.... the Falcons can free up some cap space, but... then the team needs to fill out 24 roster spots. The veteran priority rule where vets count as much as rookies, will help. Trading down in the draft will get us some more picks, we have nine now. I see us doing a lot of vet-min one year deals. Our big signings will -probably- be signing our RFA and ERFA guys like Gono and Graham. With the cap being lowered so much, teams may not be all that eager to hand out big long term deals, which helps us. Keep in mind, our draft class from 2018 enters FA next offseason. They include Ridley, Oliver, Gage, Gono, Hurst, and Oluokun. Fontenot might want to see about locking up some of -those- guys. Or preserve at least -some- future cap space so we don't lose -all- of them.... gazoo and celtiksage 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ergo Proxy 26,061 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 14 minutes ago, PokerSteve said: Worked up? LOL. Ridiculous. Where would you possibly get that idea? TATF when future cap worries get debated over until it’s moved to another year; once again: papachaz and PokerSteve 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Knight of God 53,813 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 We've been talking for years about how cap talks are extremely overrated and overestimated. Maybe now we can do some things that will.legit make us better. egoprime II, falconsd56, Lowndesfalc and 4 others 7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
⚡Slumerican⚡ 5,787 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 Maybe sign mike evans? At least he's willing to win before breaking the teams bank PokerSteve and egoprime II 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gazoo 21,302 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 The Falcoholic piece actually addresses vet minimum and under the radar vets that are good fits but can really help the team by patching up weaknesses. perhaps even weaknesses from players making a lot more money here that can be sent packing. Herr Doktor and egoprime II 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ergo Proxy 26,061 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 12 minutes ago, Knight of God said: We've been talking for years about how cap talks are extremely overrated and overestimated. Maybe now we can do some things that will.legit make us better. I’m really feeling Lawson as a front 7 pass rusher that shouldn’t break bank. Don’t know if we can afford Marcus Williams for FS. Who else is a FA from Saints? Not like they will keep all their guys from 2017 draft. also, do you think we go with a 2 gapper NT in FA or draft? Or is Pees gonna adjust? I’m wondering if Tyeler Davison has it in him to 2 gap. Strong dude. if not he probably is a cut. He can eat 2 OL at times, but idk if the defense asked it every single down. Could free up Grady for permanent 1on1 opportunities. Knight of God and egoprime II 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PokerSteve 27,896 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 7 minutes ago, gazoo said: The Falcoholic piece actually addresses vet minimum and under the radar vets that are good fits but can really help the team by patching up weaknesses. perhaps even weaknesses from players making a lot more money here that can be sent packing. That would be the ultimate way to crush the cap squeeze. Hope TF can do it. He has the background and the drive. egoprime II and Herr Doktor 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falconsd56 26,515 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 19 minutes ago, Knight of God said: We've been talking for years about how cap talks are extremely overrated and overestimated. Maybe now we can do some things that will.legit make us better. Exactly. Every year some people freak out and every year we sign like 15 nfl free agents. Some to get minimum deals...some to much larger deals. Herr Doktor, egoprime II and Knight of God 1 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ROMERO 3,868 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 (edited) According the Ryan's biggest haters on here we cant make moves with Matt Ryan hogging all the cap money. Ryan doesnt care about the team despite restructuring his contract plenty of times.... Edited February 10 by ROMERO Herr Doktor, papachaz, egoprime II and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Macintez 1,889 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 So the writer of this article came to this conclusion via "track record"? Can't deny; This is a great way to generate traffic for their site. We'll see if it pays off because I don't expect them to make too many splashes unless there are some trades to generate Cap space. egoprime II 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
athell 32,526 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 26 minutes ago, Macintez said: So the writer of this article came to this conclusion via "track record"? Can't deny; This is a great way to generate traffic for their site. We'll see if it pays off because I don't expect them to make too many splashes unless there are some trades to generate Cap space. There are several ways to generate cap space, the least of which being trades. We do this every year. Just sit back and relax and enjoy watching the front office clear space via extensions and restructures, cutting dead weight, and clearing enough to go after smart (splash signings are rarely smart) free agent signings to fill out the roster. egoprime II and falconsd56 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Knight of God 53,813 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 42 minutes ago, Ergo Proxy said: I’m really feeling Lawson as a front 7 pass rusher that shouldn’t break bank. Don’t know if we can afford Marcus Williams for FS. Who else is a FA from Saints? Not like they will keep all their guys from 2017 draft. also, do you think we go with a 2 gapper NT in FA or draft? Or is Pees gonna adjust? I’m wondering if Tyeler Davison has it in him to 2 gap. Strong dude. if not he probably is a cut. He can eat 2 OL at times, but idk if the defense asked it every single down. Could free up Grady for permanent 1on1 opportunities. We can do quite a few things with what we have on contract. Pees can get something out of Tyler or Senat. That said, we are NOT a full on 3-4. We are a matchup defense. I wouldnt rule out DaQuan. I totally expect Williams, Peterson, or someone like that as well. May get an edge guy up there in age. papachaz, Herr Doktor, falconsd56 and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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