Nobody likes to waste time quite like the Atlanta Falcons, and this persisted in 2024 as the organization continued down a path with no cohesive direction.
Arthur Blank’s desire to get out of quarterback purgatory effectively limited the club’s ceiling this year and next. The motivation to draft Michael Penix Jr. a mere weeks after signing Kirk Cousins to a deal that would financially handicap the Falcons for at least two years came from a place of desperation.
Blank’s desperation to remain relevant has prevented the Falcons from maximizing Cousins or Penix’s contract. It’s a waste of time and resources, a consistent theme in Atlanta’s erratic approach to each season since Dan Quinn was fired.
Beginning in 2020, the Falcons knew Matt Ryan was at the end of his career. A transition was looming. Instead of drafting the top offensive line prospect to eventually protect a young quarterback, Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot drafted Kyle Pitts, making him the highest-drafted tight end in league history, despite still boasting virtually no defensive talent as stars like Pat Surtain and Micah Parson were still on the board.
It was a fine decision at the moment, but the next offseason is where the cohesiveness comes into question. Arthur Blank forced Fontenot and Smith to divert from whatever original plan they had to Deshaun Watson. The pursuit pushed the greatest quarterback in Falcons history out of town, and they still missed on Watson, which was clearly a blessing in disguise now.
So, what did the Falcons do? They drafted Desmond Ridder as the heir apparent, but instead of giving him a long runway to prove whether he deserved the opportunity, Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot elected to challenge for a playoff spot with Marcus Mariota with a roster that had anything but playoff talent. It was a waste of time.
It wasn’t until the final few games that Ridder got the nod. He showed nothing to prove he was capable of becoming the Falcons’ next franchise quarterback, but it was too small of a sample size to make a definitive decision, so the runway bled into the 2023 season.
Shortly into the 2023 campaign, it became painfully obvious that Desmond Ridder wasn’t the guy, leading to yet another wasted season. The Falcons should’ve given him the reins as a rookie. It would’ve led to the organization knowing they couldn’t run it back with Ridder, but that would be too rational.
That same philosphy was present in 2024. It began shortly after Raheem Morris was hired when the new Falcons head coach was filling out his staff. The Zac Robinson hire brought cheers, while the Jimmy Lake hire brought jeers. It was a questionable decision at the moment, and it proved to be a mind-boggling hire for Morris.
Lake was never a defensive coordinator at the NFL level, and even at the collegiate level, all he did was fail. The hire reeked of a guy just hiring his friend, and it ended up being just that. But hiring Lake wasn’t even the worst display of wasteful time, energy, and resources.
No, that honor goes to the quarterback position when the Falcons paid top dollar for Kirk Cousins, then turned around and used their most valuable draft pick on his successor in Michael Penix Jr. In a vacuum, each acquisition was praised. But as they happened within a few weeks, it was heavily scrutinized, and rightfully so.
Before the start of the season, everyone acknowledged how unlikely it would be for both quarterbacks to work out in Atlanta, and it went as poorly as anyone could’ve imagined. Not only would Kirk Cousins not have the full allotment of draft picks to support him on the field, but Michael Penix Jr. also wouldn’t have the full allotment of the team’s salary cap support either.
Now, the Falcons have to eat considerable dead money to move on from Cousins as the Penix era begins, but the financial ramifications will limit Terry Fontenot’s ability to build as good of a roster around Penix as possible. It’ll soon be another wasted season in 2025, especially considering how the defense has to undergo a complete rebuild STILL.
Despite using four straight picks on defenders, trading for Mattew Judon, and signing Justin Simmons, the Falcons’ defense needs to be completely rebuilt. But don’t forget, they need to hire a coordinator too.
This is all a long-winded way of saying that the Falcons organization, under Arthur Blank’s ownership, has never had a cohesive plan. Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot are just the next jokers who will get the axe because their boss has no idea what the hell he is doing. It starts at the top.
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Photographer: Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire
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