Don't be surprised if the Falcons "roll over"

[Mister pudding]

So, we finally have wiggle room under the cap. The moment we've literally been waiting years to acheive.

Problem is that the free agent market is pretty skinny this coming year. I look for Payne to get franchised and the runningbacks are the only strong free agent position, an area we don't need.

I don't see us making too many (if any) splash signings or overpaying to get our men. I will be interested to see how we go about addressing our cap freedom. 

Do we start by re-signing the right side of our line? Long term deal on AJ? Now that unused cap can be rolled over to the following years, front loaded contracts are pretty unheard of, but I wouldn't be surprised if we paid some signing bonuses, which are usually spread evenly throughout the life of the contract to be paid in the first 2 years (2nd year must be higher than year 1 by rule, I believe). By spending wisely and earlier, contracts would be team friendlier over the next few years and allow us to be buyers for years to come, when the free agent classes are better

Just a thought during our off season

[FalconBlood23]

We can make this off season a meat and potatoes signings, get some very solid players and depth. Next off season we go splash

[Knight of God]

15 minutes ago, Mister pudding said:

So, we finally have wiggle room under the cap. The moment we've literally been waiting years to acheive.

Problem is that the free agent market is pretty skinny this coming year. I look for Payne to get franchised and the runningbacks are the only strong free agent position, an area we don't need.

I don't see us making too many (if any) splash signings or overpaying to get our men. I will be interested to see how we go about addressing our cap freedom. 

Do we start by re-signing the right side of our line? Long term deal on AJ? Now that unused cap can be rolled over to the following years, front loaded contracts are pretty unheard of, but I wouldn't be surprised if we paid some signing bonuses, which are usually spread evenly throughout the life of the contract to be paid in the first 2 years (2nd year must be higher than year 1 by rule, I believe). By spending wisely and earlier, contracts would be team friendlier over the next few years and allow us to be buyers for years to come, when the free agent classes are better

Just a thought during our off season

Finally but yeah, we may sign a top RB and there are some "pieces" available for defense, just no splash. The three top players from the Eagles. One will be franchised and the other two will be offered contracts. Money talks but so does the dopamine of winning and making the playoffs. Not many want to be a part of a rebuild that's 3 yrs in and still looks like ground zero. TD and Co left a HUGE mess no one wants. If we show a vast improvement and Ridder proves to be legit or we make a move at QB, that'll change things, but not before. 

[falconsd56]

28 minutes ago, Mister pudding said:

So, we finally have wiggle room under the cap. The moment we've literally been waiting years to acheive.

Problem is that the free agent market is pretty skinny this coming year. I look for Payne to get franchised and the runningbacks are the only strong free agent position, an area we don't need.

I don't see us making too many (if any) splash signings or overpaying to get our men. I will be interested to see how we go about addressing our cap freedom. 

Do we start by re-signing the right side of our line? Long term deal on AJ? Now that unused cap can be rolled over to the following years, front loaded contracts are pretty unheard of, but I wouldn't be surprised if we paid some signing bonuses, which are usually spread evenly throughout the life of the contract to be paid in the first 2 years (2nd year must be higher than year 1 by rule, I believe). By spending wisely and earlier, contracts would be team friendlier over the next few years and allow us to be buyers for years to come, when the free agent classes are better

Just a thought during our off season

There are 2 reasons why I don't think that it will play out like this.

#1 and probably the biggest reason.

Blank.

Blank wants to win and he himself has commented on having significant cap space. He is going to want the team to spend to get as good of players as possible. The Falcons don't need to spend all of the cap money but they can't try and nickel and dime their way through FA. Front loading the deals like that will limit the flexibility in the short term and I am not sure that Blank would want that..he wants to win now....but it brings me to the second point.

 

#2. Betting on FA classes being better in the future is incredibly risky and banking on that would be  kinda stupid because you don't know who will make it to FA from year to year.

Very rarely do really good players hit FA. They are usually tagged or in recent years , real impact guys traded so that the team can get something for them.

(Tyreek Hill and Roquan Smith come to mind immediately)

So doing the front loaded strategy works if you can parley that  into a future stud Nick Bosa type player.

However you run the risk of having a lot of money to spend on guys not worth it.....aka what the Jaguars did in the 2022 offseason...or pretty what most of the league did with much the entire WR FA class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mister pudding]

3 minutes ago, falconsd56 said:

There are 2 reasons why I don't think that it will play out like this.

#1 and probably the biggest reason.

Blank.

Blank wants to win and he himself has commented on having significant cap space. He is going to want the team to spend to get as good of players as possible. The Falcons don't need to spend all of the cap money but they can't try and nickel and dime their way through FA. Front loading the deals like that will limit the flexibility in the short term and I am not sure that Blank would want that..he wants to win now....but it brings me to the second point.

 

#2. Betting on FA classes being better in the future is incredibly risky and banking on that would be  kinda stupid because you don't know who will make it to FA from year to year.

Very rarely do really good players hit FA. They are usually tagged or in recent years , real impact guys traded so that the team can get something for them.

(Tyreek Hill and Roquan Smith come to mind immediately)

So doing the front loaded strategy works if you can parley that  into a future stud Nick Bosa type player.

However you run the risk of having a lot of money to spend on guys not worth it.....aka what the Jaguars did in the 2022 offseason...or pretty what most of the league did with much the entire WR FA class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think we're going to skimp or sit on our hands, but I don't think the players out there will be gobbling up all of our cap at the same time. They may end up going for a Pollard or Hunt along with Hargrave if they want to sell tickets, but this FA year looks pretty weak compared to many. Dunno... it will be interesting after years of filling a roster on Green Stamps to having viable options

[falconsd56]

8 minutes ago, Mister pudding said:

I don't think we're going to skimp or sit on our hands, but I don't think the players out there will be gobbling up all of our cap at the same time. They may end up going for a Pollard or Hunt along with Hargrave if they want to sell tickets, but this FA year looks pretty weak compared to many. Dunno... it will be interesting after years of filling a roster on Green Stamps to having viable options

It will be interesting to see for sure.

I fully expect some big splash signing.

They need to do something to generate some sort of offseason buzz.

After 5 straight losing seasons they need to do something to at least add some intrigue for the fan base.

 

Even if we end up overpaying which in NFL free agency is almost a given.

[Norwood all the way!]

1 hour ago, FalconBlood23 said:

We can make this off season a meat and potatoes signings, get some very solid players and depth. Next off season we go splash

This is prob the reality of our situation. Nothing we can do unless Fonty wants to trade for a playmaker and in most cases, I would be against that

[Falcanuck]

There are some fantastic DL pieces which I expect us to go after. Some decent interior OL options too. I expect us to sign a veteran safety and multiple DL. 

[hjerry]

We're not just going to go out and buy a Ferrari but we can now shop for some new cars and at some decent used car lots, rather than just searching through the junkyard for things we think we can fix up

[Voice of Reason]

1 hour ago, Mister pudding said:

So, we finally have wiggle room under the cap. The moment we've literally been waiting years to acheive.

Problem is that the free agent market is pretty skinny this coming year. I look for Payne to get franchised and the runningbacks are the only strong free agent position, an area we don't need.

But isn’t the franchise tag number for DT something like $17 million? Remember, although Payne is a NT, he’s bunched in with all DTs.
 

I don’t think Washington can afford to pay Payne this much and risking slapping on the tag and removing it before Payne signs would be reckless. I think Payne hits the open market. 

[DonDaLuvMaker]

5 hours ago, falconsd56 said:

It will be interesting to see for sure.

I fully expect some big splash signing.

They need to do something to generate some sort of offseason buzz.

After 5 straight losing seasons they need to do something to at least add some intrigue for the fan base.

 

Even if we end up overpaying which in NFL free agency is almost a given.

 

Depending on who the new DC will be I think that will determine what type of additions the Falcons will make in FA.

 

May see more notable secondary additions if the Falcons get Flores or Fangio.

[Xfactor]

All the articles I read and podcasters have us signing Lamar Jackson and trading AJ Terrell 

/p

[Herr Doktor]

I agree with this take.  The only way to improve long term is to nail the draft consistently and use FA as that gaping hole filler.  FA looks lean in the kind of player we need.  But, there is help there. 

We were in a bigger hole than many really understood.  

[INDFalcon]

5 years of back to back losing. Turn that into back to back playoff team. Get good players and pay them. This is ridiculous. Hope they fix and put some excitement to go to Falcons games.

[PriMeTiiMe]

Any Eagles D-line players that walk we need to be calling their agent.

Cox, Hargrave and Graham are all set to be FAs. 

Hargrave is my #2 Free agency target behind Payne.

[TsuTsu]

If this year has a skinny FA class then what is next years expected to be? How do we know that won’t also be a skinny year? They should sign FAs they believe are worth paying and will help elevate the team. Whether that’s 1 signing or 5 that should be philosophy. 

[Mister pudding]

1 hour ago, TsuTsu said:

If this year has a skinny FA class then what is next years expected to be? How do we know that won’t also be a skinny year? They should sign FAs they believe are worth paying and will help elevate the team. Whether that’s 1 signing or 5 that should be philosophy. 

I 100% agree. Don't just spend money to spend money.. get the guys that will make the team better and roll over the rest and/or do contracts that will give us flexibility in the future because we don't know who will be available then, but we can be prepared

[FentayeJones]

Thing is, both AS and TF has stated that just because they have money they are not going to go crazy with it. I think they are gonna make the move they think they should makes but I dont see them signing dudes just for the hel of it. This is the first time we will see how they operate with resources so its gonna be interesting. 

[ItsJustMe]

10 hours ago, FalconBlood23 said:

We can make this off season a meat and potatoes signings, get some very solid players and depth. Next off season we go splash

Yep, just st because we have the cash doesn't mean we have to reach for a FA. There is always next offseason.

I'd be happy signing solid depth if that's all that's out there.

[Kaptain Krazy]

9 hours ago, falconsd56 said:

There are 2 reasons why I don't think that it will play out like this.

#1 and probably the biggest reason.

Blank.

Blank wants to win and he himself has commented on having significant cap space. He is going to want the team to spend to get as good of players as possible. The Falcons don't need to spend all of the cap money but they can't try and nickel and dime their way through FA. Front loading the deals like that will limit the flexibility in the short term and I am not sure that Blank would want that..he wants to win now....but it brings me to the second point.

 

#2. Betting on FA classes being better in the future is incredibly risky and banking on that would be  kinda stupid because you don't know who will make it to FA from year to year.

Very rarely do really good players hit FA. They are usually tagged or in recent years , real impact guys traded so that the team can get something for them.

(Tyreek Hill and Roquan Smith come to mind immediately)

So doing the front loaded strategy works if you can parley that  into a future stud Nick Bosa type player.

However you run the risk of having a lot of money to spend on guys not worth it.....aka what the Jaguars did in the 2022 offseason...or pretty what most of the league did with much the entire WR FA class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agree with both of these - and would add that Blank's motivations are also impacted by those of us who pay for season tickets. There ain't a lot (or enough) of us, but there are too many teams around the league that are figuring how to turn around their franchises in less than 4 years for the Falcons owners or customers to accept "this is a long process, we want to do it right" explanation as a reason for sitting at home next postseason. 

Whatever strategy Fontenot and Smith have is to achieve the goal, the expectation needs to be winning more games than losing and playing postseason games in 2023. 

Also, the reasons given for this being a thin FA class won't change next year- smart teams keep good players. 

[Herr Doktor]

I definitely don't see them going hog wild and throwing money at folks that are not the fit to any of our schemes just to get a "name".  I think they will hit the second tier, younger players and keep building through the draft and shaking every bush and kicking every rock to find players.

[FentayeJones]

9 minutes ago, Herr Doktor said:

I definitely don't see them going hog wild and throwing money at folks that are not the fit to any of our schemes just to get a "name".  I think they will hit the second tier, younger players and keep building through the draft and shaking every bush and kicking every rock to find players.

Yeah going crazy on the first couple of days of free agency seems like a bad idea to me. Those first 2 or 3 days are when teams overpay. Personally, I dont care about big FA splashes; I like the idea of signing good solid football players. That's just me though. 

[Killing Floor]

We could also draft an impact player like Bijan or whoever is a the best edge at 8. I know BPA is our normal strategy. And y’all know our normal strategy has yielded terrible results. 
 

We could also halt any and all D2 and FCS scouting operations. Until we’re so fully dominant that we can afford to experiment. 
 

But really, what we need to do to resolve out Cap during this Offseason with the current FA availability, we need Art Blank to say in a press conference that the Falcons will win the NFC South or TF and AS will be fired upon elimination. 
 

Want a season with no more excuses?  Blank, stop tolerating excuses. Because I 100% guarantee you all the Saints and Panthers will be better. The Bucs will be better. And re-signing Brady is actually the least painful way for Bucs to manage their cap in 2023. 
 

We don’t need to throw cash at every position of need in FA. tF has shown he knows how to maximize value of some personnel. 
But we need pants on fire, win or leave. Playoffs in 2023 depend on Blank more than our spending increases or shiny draft object. 
 

[Rings]

Smith and TF are safe for the 2023 season, but if they don’t start winning in 2023 I’ve been told by a trustworthy source their future could be in question.  Not sure what that cut off / criteria is, if staff changes but they stay in place, didn’t get clarity there.  But point being I don’t see them sitting back and waiting, they are going to get guys this year and spend cap space I have a feeling knowing that.  I do think it will be more Tier 2 & 3 guys and not break the bank on a couple Tier 1 guys.

[Rings]

7 minutes ago, FentayeJones said:

Yeah going crazy on the first couple of days of free agency seems like a bad idea to me. Those first 2 or 3 days are when teams overpay. Personally, I dont care about big FA splashes; I like the idea of signing good solid football players. That's just me though. 

Exactly.  We have a lot of holes to fill.  Upgrading at 6 positions vs 2 is the much smarter play.