theProf Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 Falcons' early free agency activity is why they didn't trade for Lamar Jackson Story by John Buhler • 3h ago The Atlanta Falcons chose wisely to improve their team methodically rather than hastily trade for Lamar Jackson and try to microwave this thing on the fly. Let me tell you about the most positive 24 hours Atlanta Falcons fans have had in over six years. For the first time in god knows how long, the Dirty Birds had some money to spend in free agency. While the previous regime did a good job of drafting and developing homegrown talent, it paid a premium for good players, Dallas Cowboys style, and that did not work out so hot. After taking it on the chin for at least a year or more financially, Terry Fontenot absolutely cooked in free agency. The Falcons general manager traded for tight end Jonnu Smith of the New England Patriots to set the tone for what would be a fantastic Monday. Getting star safety Jessie Bates III to come over from the Cincinnati Bengals is the best free agent move the Falcons have made since signing Alex Mack. They did not stop there and were able to extend their all-world guard Chris Lindstrom, too. Michael Rothstein @mikerothstein Think this is safe to do now after a wild Falcons day. IN: TE Jonnu Smith, S Jessie Bates III, DT David Onyemata, LB Kaden Elliss BACK (or extended): RG Chris Lindstrom, FB Keith Smith, P Bradley Pinion OUT: Pick No. 245 in '23 7th round Next: OT? OG? WR? DE/EDGE? CB? QB? As if the greatest Monday since closing out the Georgia Dome on good terms wasn't enough, Fontenot was not done. He opted to sign a high-end backup in Atlanta area native Taylor Heinicke of Washington Commanders fame Tuesday morning. The former Collins Hill star and Old Dominion legend will probably get into coaching after this, but will compete with Desmond Ridder for now. Ian Rapoport @RapSheet · The #Falcons are signing former #Commanders QB Taylor Heinicke, per me and @MikeGarafolo. With plenty of starting experience, Atlanta adds a veteran to their QB room. All of these transactions that happened above and so much more would not have been possible if Fontenot took the shortcut and traded for Lamar Jackson. I don't know how good this team will be next year, but 11-6 or 10-7 is not out of the realm of possibility. Given how truly awful the NFC South is across the board, Atlanta could win its first division crown since Kyle Shanahan blew it. Dare I say it, the Falcons are giving me hope and for whatever reason, I am buying into all of this. Let's be real. I haven't been this excited about a defensive back coming to Atlanta since the Falcons drafted DeAngelo Hall. I had a sneaking suspicion the Bengals would do what they do and go cheap, allowing Bates to go get his money. He reunites with his former secondary coach Steve Jackson, as well as other top David Mulugheta clients on the Falcons like A.J. Terrell and Kyle Pitts. The David Onyemata and Kaden Elliss signings were all about getting more Ryan Nielsen guys in the building. It is not easy to cherrypick guys off the team you hate more than anything in the world, but Fontenot has been good to us and Nielsen shows promise. The Onyemata signing will do wonders in letting the rest of the NFL world fully understand just how great Grady Jarrett is. I mean, we can go down the line. Every move the Falcons have made this offseason has been calculated and methodical, which is all I could have ever hoped for. They put real thought into this offseason plan, and I'm proud of them. Whether it is a culture-shifting one like Bates or bringing back some more beef in the running game in fullback Keith Smith, the pieces are coming together. Not to say the Dirty Birds are going worst-to-first 1991 Atlanta Braves style on us, but they are my bet to be the 2022 Jacksonville Jaguars and the 2021 Bengals before that. Those were bad teams that got better rapidly by crushing it in NFL free agency and making savvy draft picks to hopefully build a winning team around an offensive-minded head coach and a young quarterback. Even re-signing punter Bradley Pinion is a solid move, because you can never put a price on having continuity on special teams. You can win and lose games in that department. This is a way how the Falcons can cut into the deficit of the many one-score defeats they suffered a season ago. Extending perhaps your most talented player and overall good guy in Lindstrom is pure brilliance. Right now, I want to talk about the two additions they made to improve the offense, first with Smith and then with Heinicke. Although Smith did not work out in New England, the Patriots don't know what they are doing offensively, but head coach Arthur Smith sure does. He specialized in coaching tight ends like Smith before becoming the offensive coordinator in Nashville. I love this. And for Heinicke, it is so very Atlanta of him to grow up in the metroplex and not root for the Falcons as a youth. Why would he? Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers were better when we were kids. However, he plays with an edge to him that I have always loved. I'll never have my idol Ryan Fitzpatrick play for the Falcons, but I can have a peer of mine do similar things in Heinicke. Overall, just be happy for us, dude. This has been the roughest stretch of Falcons football in my lifetime. The good news is I honestly feel we are getting out of our perpetual quagmire and will turn some heads this fall. The best part is they still have draft capital, including the No. 8 pick. So just draft one of my Dawgs in either Jalen Carter or Nolan Smith in the top 10 and I will be ecstatic. Ultimately, the only other things the Falcons can do in free agency to make this offseason perfect is to re-sign right tackle Kaleb McGary and bring in a veteran wide receiver to help bring Drake London along. Everyone is going to count us out, but Atlanta kind of thrives off that. Always has, always will. Just wait until this football team gets good again. Oh, we will be so awful to deal with. I am so waiting for this to crash and burn and for the blade to drop from above, but it has been fun. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/falcons-early-free-agency-activity-is-why-they-didn-t-trade-for-lamar-jackson/ar-AA18Cq6X?ocid=windirect&cvid=149ab740169b42ca98ced48ff9d73144&ei=18 Tim Mazetti, Doctor Kildare, HASHBROWN3 and 9 others 6 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetpac Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 Or we just didn’t want Lamar. TL:DR A Pimp Named Slickback™ and RookieBird 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhawksfan Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 10 minutes ago, theProf said: This has been the roughest stretch of Falcons football in my lifetime The author must be very young rounz, Tim Mazetti, theProf and 2 others 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chifalc Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 3 minutes ago, tbhawksfan said: The author must be very young I came in under Dan Henning myself. Tim Mazetti and WH dirtybird 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mazetti Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 23 minutes ago, theProf said: Right now, I want to talk about the two additions they made to improve the offense, first with Smith and then with Heinicke. Although Smith did not work out in New England, the Patriots don't know what they are doing offensively, but head coach Arthur Smith sure does. He specialized in coaching tight ends like Smith before becoming the offensive coordinator in Nashville. I love this. So do I. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Mazetti Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 25 minutes ago, theProf said: ust wait until this football team gets good again. Oh, we will be so awful to deal with. And This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Bird Rising Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 24 minutes ago, jetpac said: Or we just didn’t want Lamar. TL:DR They wanted Lamar but the path to Lamar was STIFLING. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDawgMania Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 YungFalco and rounz 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetpac Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 3 minutes ago, Dark Bird Rising said: They wanted Lamar but the path to Lamar was STIFLING. I think there’s bigger plans in play honestly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chifalc Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 For Lamar: Quote The Dark Side is] quicker, easier, more seductive... easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path forever will it dominate your destiny. Chitown2ATL_Falcon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spongebob Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 Blank sees he dodged a bullet last year when he decided to meddle. Imagine blank got his way and signed deshaun. Hello decade of irrelevance YungFalco and HASHBROWN3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
very old bird Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 44 minutes ago, chifalc said: I came in under Dan Henning myself. Norbert Hecker for me MarkMc44, WH dirtybird and ShoNuff 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HASHBROWN3 Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 Well written Now just remember that comes from a fan. You can bet ur *** that the absolute clown show of media mo-rons will never ever give us the credit we deserve. Many hate this city & refuse to recognize our teams. They will prop up moves by the PC teams & literally give them credit for similar or lesser moves, while crapping on ours. Now I don’t want to paint too broad a stroke cuz there’s exceptions, but we all know the routine drill from these losers. Just be prepared to ignore it. Chitown2ATL_Falcon and YungFalco 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkMc44 Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 12 minutes ago, HASHBROWN3 said: Well written Now just remember that comes from a fan. You can bet ur *** that the absolute clown show of media mo-rons will never ever give us the credit we deserve. Many hate this city & refuse to recognize our teams. They will prop up moves by the PC teams & literally give them credit for similar or lesser moves, while crapping on ours. Now I don’t want to paint too broad a stroke cuz there’s exceptions, but we all know the routine drill from these losers. Just be prepared to ignore it. You must have listened to Dukes and Bell this afternoon. Gave us faint credit for a few splash moves, but felt we did little to address our issues, as they see them. I literally turned them off. Almost like we don’t have the majority of free agency and the draft still ahead of us. Chitown2ATL_Falcon and YungFalco 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HASHBROWN3 Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 7 minutes ago, MarkMc44 said: You must have listened to Dukes and Bell this afternoon. Gave us faint credit for a few splash moves, but felt we did little to address our issues, as they see them. I literally turned them off. Almost like we don’t have the majority of free agency and the draft still ahead of us. Glad I didn’t lol. I live in TN so not much local radio stuff. On a national level it’s pretty sad though 😀 Chitown2ATL_Falcon and MarkMc44 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerSteve Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 1 hour ago, tbhawksfan said: The author must be very young Probably a very bright toddler whose mama taught him to read and write early. 😆 chifalc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunchy Carter Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 I didn't think this was a long read at all... Thank you for sharing! Chitown2ATL_Falcon, theProf and PokerSteve 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McSpanker Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 2 hours ago, tbhawksfan said: The author must be very young This is the longest the falcons have gone without making the playoffs since 1982-1991. Chances are most current falcons fan became fans after that chifalc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoNuff Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 2 hours ago, chifalc said: I came in under Dan Henning myself. The furthest I can remember is Leeman Bennett. PokerSteve and chifalc 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoNuff Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 1 hour ago, very old bird said: Norbert Hecker for me WOW !!! That is pretty cool !! chifalc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerSteve Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 5 minutes ago, ShoNuff said: The furthest I can remember is Leeman Bennett. That is definitely not a bad thing as a Falcons fan. Many of us however have deeper scars. 😆 theProf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtybirds233 Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 Or, just hear me out… They, nor any team, want to give $250M guaranteed to a guy that’s missed 30% of his games over the last two seasons while having just 7 more total TDs than total turnovers. chifalc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theProf Posted March 14 Author Share Posted March 14 8 minutes ago, PokerSteve said: That is definitely not a bad thing as a Falcons fan. Many of us however have deeper scars. 😆 Ain't that the truth! Mine go all the way back to Norb Hecker, the very first Falcons' head coach. PokerSteve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerSteve Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 4 minutes ago, theProf said: Ain't that the truth! Mine go all the way back to Norb Hecker, the very first Falcons' head coach. We went 3-11 and I still can't fathom how we won three games. 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theProf Posted March 14 Author Share Posted March 14 1 minute ago, PokerSteve said: We went 3-11 and I still can't fathom how we won three games. 🤣 Well we had Tommy Nobis and very little else. PokerSteve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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