Atlanta Falcons Slammed as Having One of NFL's Worst Offseasons

CBS Sports was not a fan of the Atlanta Falcons' offseason, which included a lot of change. They ranked the team at No. 5 in the worst offseasons in the NFL and teased that if the quarterback does not work out, “regression is imminent.”

Regression is not something Falcons fans want to hear after the team finished 8-9 last year and missed the playoffs for the eighth year in a row, the second-longest drought in the NFL. However, CBS Sports failed to provide context for the Falcons' offseason moves. Here is a breakdown of the issues they had with Atlanta’s offseason.

Front office and coaching staff:

They were not a huge fan of hiring Matt Ryan, and were doubtful of his choice of Kevin Stefanski to be the team's new head coach. Ryan was brought in to fill the organization's new role of president of football operations. His main job is to ensure the franchise is on the same page, from the owner all the way to the players.

The role was suggested by the consulting firm Sportsology, which has examined over 65 franchises across almost every major sport worldwide. They deemed the role necessary to ensure continuity of goals by the entire franchise.

Arthur Blank decided Ryan, arguably the franchise's greatest player, was the best option for the role. CBS was hesitant about the move because of Ryan’s lack of experience.

They questioned the Stefanski hire as well, despite him being a two-time NFL Coach of the Year winner, because of the Browns' 8-26 record over the past two years, even with one of the league's better defenses.

In the 2020 season, Stefanski helped the Browns win their first playoff game in 26 years in his first year as head coach. Then, after a disappointing 8-9 year, the following season, the front office pushed for the trade and signing of Deshaun Watson, despite rumored opposition from Stefanski. This turned out to be one of the worst moves in NFL history, setting the franchise back years. The Browns still have one of, if not the worst, quarterback rooms in the NFL, but that brings us to CBS’s next problem with the Falcons' offseason.

Quarterback:

"Some would argue Stefanski didn't have the right quarterback in Cleveland. OK, but the situation is arguably worse in Atlanta," Jordan Dajani wrote. "Michael Penix Jr. is coming off the third torn ACL of his football career and is 4-8 as an NFL starter. Then the Falcons made the puzzling decision to quickly sign Tua Tagovailoa."

Worse than the Browns last year with rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders? Even the harshest of Tagovailoa and Penix critics would have trouble agreeing with that.

No, the Falcons do not have an obvious great choice at quarterback, and yes, it is fair to question if Penix is the answer coming off an ACL injury and only having a 4-8 record entering his third year in the league.

However, what is not fair is criticizing the signing of Tua Tagovailoa to a one-year $1.2 million contract. Tagovailoa will have the 69th biggest cap hit of all quarterbacks this season, great value for a player that is just two seasons removed from a Pro-Bowl year and is still just 28-years-old.

Tagovailoa does struggle with injuries and turnovers, but still possesses plenty of good qualities. He and Penix are not a great quarterback room by any means, not yet at least.

Free Agency and Spending

CBS also took issue with some of the Falcons’ free agency moves, the biggest of which was the extension of wide receiver Drake London. London and the Falcons agreed to a four-year, $141 million deal.

This made London the third-highest paid receiver in the league, which is what CBS had a problem with. They thought this money was above the talent level of London. They pointed to receivers like Ceedee Lamb and Justin Jefferson, who now make less money than London, as reasons why this was an overpay. However, Lamb and Jefferson both signed their contracts in 2024, well before Jaxon Smith-Njigba reset the market this year. Smith-Njigba earns around $7 million a year, more than London.

London has had five different starting quarterbacks in his four-year NFL career. Despite this shaky quarterback play, London has caught over 300 passes for close to 4,000 yards and 22 touchdowns in his young career. With some consistent quarterback play, London could easily join that upper echelon of receivers.

By the time London reaches year three of his contract, he may not even be in the top 10 of highest-paid receivers.

Another complaint CBS had with Atlanta’s free agency was the lack of big moves. According to Dajani, the team's two biggest deals went to a punter and a kicker and totaled just $9 million. They questioned whether the team got any better this offseason.

It also means Dajani was just looking at Spotrac and not really paying attention to the Falcons, because they don't list wide receiver Jahan Dotson, who got the Falcons' biggest offseason deal at $15 million across two years.

Dotson may or may not turn out to be an upgrade over Darnell Mooney, but Mooney set the bar pretty low last season at wide receiver, and Dotson's deal is definitely bigger than Nick Folk's and Jake Bailey's.

That said, the Falcons had multiple holes to fill and didn't fool themselves into thinking they were one player away.

After the introduction of an almost entirely new front office and coaching staff, and reevaluating how the team went about their work, I believe the goal was not necessarily to immediately get better, but instead to restructure how the organization operates. This would set the franchise up to compete long-term instead of chasing short-term yearly success. Not a bad idea for an organization with the second-longest playoff drought in the league.

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CBS’s breakdown of the Falcons' offseason was lacking context for the Falcons' organizational restructure. People see the talent that exists on the Falcons roster and think they must immediately try to compete, but the team has been doing that for the past three seasons and has yet to see any results.

Now building for the future, some are failing to see the new regime's vision for the franchise. Was it a perfect offseason? No. Was it one of the five worst in the NFL?

Time will tell.

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