Falcons: The Pros And Cons Of Terry Fontenot As Atlanta’s Next GM



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This article is making me sick because I have to be a little nice to the Saints, but Fontenot is more than qualified to be the Falcons’ next GM. Rumors are circulating in national media that Fontenot will be associated with Joe Brady, and it’s a duo in which I can certainly talk to myself. A little background on Fontenot:

Fontenot has been with AINTS for over 18 years, which has undoubtedly been their best years. He was heavily involved as a scout and with player staff during his time.

While the ceiling situation in New Orleans for 2021 is in fact a trash fire, Fontenot mainly handles player evaluation and scouting for professional leagues and future opponents (and he’s good at it).

Advantages:

Player acquisitions

It should be noted that Fontenot wears many hats, mainly the director of Pro Scouting. He has a serious eye for talent and he has acquired players in positions that the Falcons have at times struggled with.

Looking at free agents, DeMario Davis became one of WILL’s top linebackers in the game after leaving the Jets – even at age 32. Fontenot recently helped pull Emmanuel Sanders and Malcolm Jenkins out of the trash. Saints rarely give bad contracts to free agents, and the Falcons have had several bads this offseason.

Identify future opponents

Even with Drew Brees completely toast and Taysom Hill being very limited, New Orleans is finding a way to win regular season games. They’ll have their hands full with Tampa Bay this weekend, but part of Fontenot’s job is to assess the talent of other teams. He did well; the Saints always seem to come up with a solid game plan and adapt. As much as I clown New Orleans, they’ve been able to win playoff games (which they stifled) in each of the past three seasons. Most of that should be attributed to Sean Payton, but Fontenot has been doing it for 17 years. Making adjustments and planning the game after the first half has been… problematic for Atlanta in recent years, to say the least.

Experience

17 years even as a janitor in the NFL is an impressive achievement, especially for an organization. This will be Fontenot’s sixth year as Director of Pro Scouting. He saw the best years of football in New Orleans by far, and I would say he played a role in Drew Brees’ participation, leading to their only Lombardi Trophy 11 years ago. Even though Joe Brady’s “readiness” is questionable, Fontenot knows this game inside and out.

The inconvenients:

Compensation Picks for New Orleans

New Orleans will get two third-round compensatory picks for hiring a minority candidate. I have no bones with the rule itself, and hope they don’t reload with two good players using those picks. Either way, if you really believe Fontenot is the guy, you need to roll the dice.

Current situation of the saints’ cap

In case you missed our endless jokes about it on Twitter, the Saints are roughly $ 100 million above the cap for 2021 – and that’s if that doesn’t fall. Drew Brees’ retirement will ease some of that pressure, but they have a lot of work to do. Kwon Alexander may already have to be cut. I predict Mickey Loomis will do some magic work and get the situation under control, but it continues to kick the streets. I wouldn’t necessarily say this is Fontenot’s doing, but it’s worth taking note of. Either way, I can’t fault a guy for paying to keep his best players and going for one last time with Drew Brees. With a team as tight as Atlanta, he has a big task ahead of him. I have listed some cut candidates to give Fontenot some leeway, but the ceiling situation will be risky following a season impacted by COVID-19.

Leave it short with the fanbase

I’m going to keep it short because it’s more in theory than in practice, but if a guy comes from New Orleans and trades Julio Jones and gets a bad comeback or does little to nothing in the first few seasons, the fans are going to be heated. he came from the Saints. Just say.

Role unknown with College Scouting

Look, the saints write well. Look no further than the 2017 NFL Draft, one the Falcons notoriously missed. Getting a good lasting tackle in the Pro Bowl with Ryan Ramczyk, RB superstar Alvin Kamara, a solid EDGE in Trey Hendrickson, CB Marshon Lattimore and safety Marcus Williams in one draft is really impressive. Even guys in recent projects like Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz have been good for New Orleans. Not to mention – Michael Thomas was picked up in the second round of the 2016 draft, one of football’s best left tackles at Terron Armstead was drafted in 2013 (third round), and Cam Jordan was picked in 2011 (24th overall) . New Orleans made picks count all over the draft board.

Okay, that made me feel disgusting. However, Fontenot takes care of the acquisition of PRO talent. As a scout I’m sure he has a hand in checking out college players. At present, I do not have the information to say that he had such a significant impact in this regard.

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