About the only thing anyone can complain about in regards to the Falcons’ 2025 draft is the capital they gave up in the James Pearce Jr. trade.
By all accounts, the 2025 rookie class is Terry Fontenot’s best work. The 2024 draft class could very well earn that title because of Michael Penix Jr. alone, but as far as the ratio of draft capital to results, the 2025 class looks primed to be Fontneot’s Mona Lisa.
The Falcons may have gotten four potential Day 1 starters with their first four picks, including two outside of the first round, which Fontenot has never done in his tenure as Atlanta’s general manager. However, the trade for James Pearce Jr. does leave the Falcons extremely vulnerable, desperately needing to make the playoffs this upcoming season.
The Rams sent the No. 26 pick and the No. 101 pick to the Falcons in exchange for the No. 46 pick, the No. 242 pick, and a 2026 first-round pick. It’s possible that it sours, but even if it does, that blame should not fall on the shoulders of Terry Fontenot.
Last year, Fontenot and the Falcons were ridiculed for signing Kirk Cousins and then drafting Michael Penix Jr., but team reporter Mark Zinno has it on good authority that the Penix splash after signing Cousins was pushed by Blank.
Once again, it seems the owner’s fingerprints are all over the Falcons’ aggressive approach to the 2025 draft, according to reports from ESPN’s Marc Raimondi.
“Just a few weeks after Falcons owner Arthur Blank said he had a “very clear” conversation with Fontenot and coach Raheem Morris about how disappointed he was with last season’s 8-9 record, the front office displayed a win-now mentality. If the Falcons extend their streak of missing the playoffs to eight years, the team’s 2026 draft picks might be made by a different regime. But for now, confidence was flying high.”
I’m not unhappy with Terry Fontenot’s aggressiveness. I love it, but he’s almost acting as if there is no tomorrow, and to a certain degree, there might not be for the Falcons GM if the team doesn’t make the playoffs. So, why does he care about a first round pick next year?
The organization’s desperate owner enabled a GM to act with his back against the wall. We came into the offseason thinking Fontenot’s job was on the line, and that’s a dangerous proposition. Anyone making decisions today without a care for tomorrow is a recipe for disaster.
However, if this doesn’t work out, Arthur Blank is the one to blame for putting Fontenot in this position, not the general manager himself.
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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
