Falcons Free Agency 'Change'? Arthur Smith Details Critical Offseason
Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith and general manager Terry Fontenot knew the challenge ahead of them when they took the job in Jan. 2021.
Staring at a team that hadn't made the playoffs in three seasons filled with a roster of aging stars on big contracts, the duo knew Atlanta was in for a rebuild - even if they stayed away from officially calling it that.
With just two games remaining in the second season of the Smith and Fontenot era, the Falcons hold a record of 5-10 this year and just 12-20 overall ... but are finally set up well entering the offseason, even with what Smith dubbed "some of the lumps we took along the way to get here."
Among those "lumps" is Atlanta's $83 million in dead cap, the highest mark in NFL history, which includes paying 14 players who are no longer with the organization.
With much of that dead money coming off the books in 2023 (just $13 million, nearly all of which is tied up in linebacker Deion Jones), Smith and Fontenot will have cap freedom for the first time - and have a whole lot of money to spend.
The number currently stands at $70 million, and there are several moves Atlanta is likely to make that will only increase that number. For instance, releasing since-benched starting quarterback Marcus Mariota saves the Falcons a lofty $12 million, including a $3 million roster bonus due on March 19.
In essence, Atlanta has a chance to enter free agency with north of $80 million in cap space, though around $13 million of that will go to signing a draft class and extensions are still on the table for Pro Bowl right guard Chris Lindstrom and All-Pro cornerback A.J. Terrell, though the Falcons could wait another year for the latter.
Still, Smith and Fontenot will be in uncharted waters once the league year kicks off March 15 - and they're planning on altering their "strategy" as a result.
"Certainly, our strategy's going to change," Smith said. "Those have just been the obstacles, and nobody cares about your problems. This is such a competitive league and you're trying to do everything you can to win and build the right foundation, and we feel good about the foundation. We know we want to get over the hump, set the expectations high - for multiple reasons, we didn't achieve that part.
"It doesn't mean that we're all of a sudden, down and out, because we know we're building something real here ... Certainly, it's going to change the offseason plan."
Despite fielding teams largely made up of veterans on one-year contracts and young starters, the Falcons have been in the playoff picture in December each of the past two years.
But perhaps most importantly, Smith and Fontenot have signed the right veterans - players who've helped build the "foundation" they feel so strongly about and have aided in the forming of an improved team identity.
Thus, while the cap situation was an "obstacle," and being forced to approach free agency with a bargain shopping mindset left a lot to be desired, the overall process has only helped Smith strengthen the culture he's trying to implement.
"We've been thankful (for) some of these veterans that I've gotten to work with," Smith said. "We got (Cordarrelle Patterson) late that one year; been fun to work with Patterson, he's done a terrific job here. Lorenzo Carter, Rashaan Evans, I mean there's tons of guys - guys the year before who put everything they had into it; Duron Harmon, Brandon Copeland, Steven Means, Lee Smith ... guys you really appreciate that put it all on the line for you."
Working on a budget, Smith and Fontenot understood they needed to find double-edged value; players who can make an impact both on and off the field ... and by all accounts, they did that.
Patterson became the first player in franchise history with 500 rushing and receiving yards in the same season while being one of the most well-liked players in the locker room.
Carter's second on the Falcons in sacks with 4.5 and has provided time for rookie outside linebackers Arnold Ebiketie and DeAngelo Malone to be eased into the rotation.
Evans is tied for fourth in the NFL in tackles with 150, serving as the communicator for Atlanta's defense while helping in the development of rookie inside linebacker Troy Andersen.
It's a similar story for Harmon and fellow veteran Erik Harris, who started at safety for the Falcons a season ago while then-rookie Richie Grant and second-year pro Jaylinn Hawkins grasped defensive coordinator Dean Pees' complex playbook. Harmon left in free agency while Harris is largely a special teams-only player, but they showed Grant and Hawkins the ropes, brightening Atlanta's future along the way.
The same can be said for Lee Smith, who was integral in helping ease the transition to professional football for tight end Kyle Pitts, who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie under Smith's guidance.
All of these players were brought in on one-year deals, simply looking for a place to make an impact ... and while many of them did so on the gridiron, they helped pave the way for a brighter future of Falcons football.
How good can that future be? This offseason promises to go a long way in determining that, and Smith is "excited" about getting to that point - but he remains focused on finishing this year strong, because it's what some of those veterans who've "put it all on the line" deserve.
"There's a lot of things you've got to discuss throughout the offseason," Smith began. "Meetings, strategy going into free agency which we haven't had here in two years, obviously where we are in the draft, we've got a lot of picks, lot of things you can move around. So, we're excited about the offseason and a lot of the things we've built here, we just want to finish this the right way."
The Falcons haven't been above .500 - let alone make the playoffs - since the conclusion of the 2017 season, and the Smith/Fontenot era currently sitting eight games below the mark certainly does little to ease outside concerns.
But underneath the surface, Atlanta's new regime has built things the right way, bringing in quality veterans who've shown what professional football players are supposed to do during the week and performed at a high enough level to give the league's second-youngest team the right to play meaningful, pressure-filled games near season's end.
And now, with one of the largest sums of money to spend in free agency and a projected nine picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, the opportunity is there for Smith and Fontenot to show why they accepted the job nearly two years ago.
Through all of the "lumps," the Falcons' decision makers are just two weeks away from reaching the offseason they've been looking towards since Jan. 2021 ... and now, it's up to them to deliver.
You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft
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