To me, Arthur Smith sounds like he has thrown in the towel on this season and wants to see if he has a QB for next season. All the hype in the fringe media last offseason was what if the Falcons could land Lamar Jackson... but Jackson was never really on the table. On the other hand, this season it would make a hell of a lot of sense for both teams if the Bears traded Justin Fields to Atlanta. The price tag could easily be a third rounder in 2024 plus a conditional pick of some sort (maybe a 6th that becomes 5th or 4th if Fields has his fifth year option exercised or gets resigned before hitting the open market) in 2025. Fields as QB#1 and Ridder+Heinecke as depth, with the rest of Atlanta's offense and the new defense? That roster would be true contenders. But do Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot believe they have the future franchise QB in house? It's sounding to me like Smith wants another look at Heinecke to evaluate him. I'm guessing they lose two of the next three games, Smith miraculously does NOT get fired but is clearly on the hot seat going into 2024, and the QB position becomes far and away the top priority for the offseason. And then... Fields for a third rounder plus conditional future pick? Sold.
The Falcons had been fairly quiet at the back end of the roster for the last month or so. One noteworthy change over the last week: defensive line prospect Travis Bell is out, and defensive line prospect Tommy Togiai is in. Bell was a seventh round pick this year by Chicago. Atlanta plucked him off of Chicago's practice squad at the beginning of November. He got his first snaps with the team when David Onyemata missed two weeks, playing 17 snaps (25%) against Tampa and 13 snaps (20%) against Carolina. Apparently the team decided to go another direction and waived him to sign Togiai off of Cleveland's practice squad. Whether they would have signed him to the practice squad, we don't know - the Bengals scooped him up off the waiver wire. Togiai was a fourth round pick by the Browns in 2021. He played with them for two seasons but was released at the final roster cut this season. For whatever reason, Jacksonville had him on their practice squad for Week 1, then released him. The Browns quickly brought him back to Cleveland, signing him to their own practice squad. I take it as a good sign that they still wanted him, even though he didn't make the 53 in his third season under new DC Jim Schwartz. Translation: he's not the next Grady Jarrett, but he's a candidate to become a useful part of the DT rotation in 2024. He has 18 games of experience with 2 starts, producing 29 total tackles, 2 passes batted down, 2 half sacks and a fumble recovery. Atlanta now gets an extended look at him to see if he'll be a good system fit for Ryan Nielsen's defensive scheme. So... good luck to Travis Bell, and welcome aboard Tommy Togiai.
Biggest update on the coaching situation = Arthur Blank said in Monday's press meeting that the team won't announce interviews until after they've happened. Update on the roster = the team signed most of their practice squad guys to futures contracts plus a few other players. A bonus is that several of the "top" practice squad prospects had already been called up to the regular roster as injury replacements. Since they finished the season under contract, there is no need to sign them to futures contracts as the team already holds their rights going into the new league year. This includes C/G Ryan Neuzil, TE/FB Tucker Fisk, LB Andre Smith and DL Tommy Togiai. Throw in 16 more prospects that have now been signed to futures contracts, and the team starts out 2024 with a whole lot more prospects - several with noteworthy experience - than in most years. The offensive line seems to be the main group that has been loaded up with prospects. OT Barry Wesley was with the team in camp and preseason but spent most of the year on the practice squad IR list. OT Tyler Vrabel and OT John Leglue both saw action in games this year as standard practice squad elevations. Former Georgia guard Justin Shaffer (a late 2022 draft pick) and former UCF lineman Ryan Swoboda were both resigned. OL prospect Kyle Hinton and 7th round rookie G/C Jovaughn Gwyn are also under contract, having been on the regular roster. With all five starters still in place for 2024, that makes 13 offensive linemen signed even before the draft and free agency. The pending free agents in the group are swing tackle Storm Norton, backup center Matt Hennessy (on IR) and OL prospect Ethan Greenidge (also on IR). The main names that are missing: WR Frank Darby, who was the team's last selection in the 2021 draft (6th round, #187 overall) didn't crack the roster in 2023 and has not been resigned for next season. Noteworthy: the other two practice squad WR prospects were both signed, and former practice squad prospect Josh Ali will be returning from IR. TE Parker Hesse, who drew praise from coach Arthur Smith in 2022 as an unsung hero taking on the hybrid FB and blocking TE role, has also not been resigned. The other two unsigned prospects are LB Frank Ginda and DT Carlos Davis, who were only signed to the practice squad at the end of November and late December, respectively. Davis came aboard to replace NT Timmy Horne, who was signed away by the Giants.
Carolina defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, along with Raheem Morris, Steve Wilks, Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn and Anthony Weaver were all announced this morning as being requested for interview for the HC position. So, I was confused a bit here.
It is a bit confusing, indeed. I apologize for adding to that by not explaining it better. The team isn't disclosing their upcoming interviews. They're leaving us to get the news on our own from third party sources. The reports of those interview requests are coming from the usual suspects at NFL-N, ESPN, and SI. On the plus side, since the beat writers on the team's own web site operate independently anyway, they are now tracking the other reporters and their lists of interview requests. They don't have Ejiro Evero on their list yet, so congratulations on breaking the news on that one! According to the three writers on the team's web site, ESPN's Adam Schefter says the team has requested interviews with Raheem Morris and Ravens defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported the interview request for Morris and also for Steve Wilks. NFL-N's Mike Garofolo reported Wilks as well. Also from NFL-N, Tom Pelissero reported the team has interview requests with Ben Johnson and Bengals OC Brian Callahan, while Ian Rapoport lists the Falcons as planning to interview Aaron Glenn and Anthony Weaver. Over at Sports Illustrated, Albert Breer joins the fun by reporting that the team will interview Texans OC Bobby Slowik.
According to SI... On Thursday night, the Falcons blocked the Jacksonville Jaguars' request to interview defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen for their vacancy at the same position. Good news, I believe they need to keep Nielson around.
Yes, the word is that they are blocking interview requests for the assistant coaches and that some of the assistants aren't especially happy about it. This MIGHT also tie into GM Terry Fontenot not being there when Arthur Blank met with the media on Monday. The explanation was that Fontenot was needed elsewhere in the building working with the coaches. The media didn't buy that one, and the blogs and fringe sites out there are already banging the drum that CEO Rich McKay has secretly been controlling everything all along like some Falcons version of Rasputin. The writer at SportsTalkATL has started referring to McKay as Grima Wormtongue (Lord Of The Rings reference), if that gives you an idea of how bad the optics were in not having the GM present. But... if the team does plan on keeping Nielsen and his staff intact and only make changes at HC and perhaps offense, that would be a legitimate reason for Fontenot to be meeting with the coaches on that day. It's really the only reason that makes sense, otherwise there is ZERO point in having the GM work elsewhere in the building with coaches who might not be with the team next month. What are they going to do? Evaluate players when no one even knows what the offensive and defensive schemes would be? So that's a pure guess, based on pure hope on my part. Let the offensive guys interview, but block anyone from poaching any of the defensive staff unless it's a legit step up. I want Nielsen to stay put, and I want him to keep any defensive assistants he wants to keep. And give every assistant - every freaking one of them, from Nielsen and Ragone all the way to the assistant strength coach and the analysts - a small bonus RIGHT NOW just for dealing with the uncertainty.
Agreed. The old adage comes to mind... "If it aint broke, dont try to fix it". I like the 180* turnaround they had on defense, so Im thinking, hey, leave that alone for now, till the big dogs get their big guns together and find a HC... then put all the cards on the table and see what you got.
Mike Garafolo at NFL-N is reporting that the Falcons are interviewing Raiders interim coach Antonio Pierce. The tracker being compiled by the team's beat writers now also includes Evero. And some useful information... according to the tracker, the interviews with Mike MacDonald, Steve Wilks, Brian Callahan and Evero (scheduled for today) have already taken place.
I saw that Pierce thing to. Maybe Pierce gets the gig and Max Crosby comes over also... just kidding. Sure hope the Falcons land a good one, someone who has a knack at the offensive side or at least the personnel in mind to run an offense, but the process is very covert it seems.
So... coaches still employed by other clubs still have to be interviewed online at this point, even if the other club isn't even in the playoffs. But interviews with an unemployed coach can be in person. The Falcons announced that they have completed the interview with Belichick. What they didn't say, but what Sports Illustrated reported ... apparently they held the interview on Arthur Blank's yacht. Belichick was seen getting on board.
Im wondering if BB and AB have a history? BB's first interview was pretty quick and done with Blank exclusively so far, I find that interesting.
They definitely have a long history of mutual respect. Former GM Thomas Dimitroff was Belichick's director of college scouting when Blank hired him to become GM. Belichick's former GM Scott Pioli also spent time here as an assistant to Dimitroff. The interesting dynamic will be Blank's long time team president and now organizational CEO, Rich McKay. As head of the competition committee, McKay and Belichick have at least in theory butted heads a few times over the years. One very clearly NOT RELIABLE outlet that has it in for McKay posted a hopeful article saying that if Blank does hire Belichick, he might also get rid of McKay in the process. My take = that writer is a f-ing idiot who spends all of his time in bars talking with fans who don't know jack about the actual operations of the organization. He overreacted big time because McKay was there with Blank for the press meeting when Arthur Smith was let go, while GM Terry Fontenot wasn't there to meet with reporters. The automatic assumption was that McKay really runs the team, Fontenot has no power whatsoever, and McKay has been poisoning Blank's mind and has been the true cause of all the team's issues for the last two decades. He is now making a point of referring to McKay as "Grima Wormtongue" (Lord of the Rings reference) in every article he posts. So... this tool definitely has some kind of axe to grind and is taking a shoot first, don't bother researching at all approach.
Well, after BB... Jim Harbaugh was interviewed Tuesday. The Falcons have completed initial head coach interviews with the following individuals: Baltimore Ravens Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald Cincinnati Bengals Offensive Coordinator Brian Callahan San Francisco 49ers Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks Carolina Panthers Defensive Coordinator Ejiro Evero Baltimore Ravens Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Line Coach Anthony Weaver Former New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick University of Michigan Head Coach Jim Harbaugh
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Belichick will have a second interview with the Falcons over the weekend. Belichick previously met one-on-one with team ownter Arthur Blank. The Falcons announced that interview with Belichick on Monday night. The Patriots announced that they had mutually parted ways with Belichick a week ago after the former head coach compiled a 266-121 regular season record and 30-12 postseason record with six Super Bowl victories over 24 seasons. Of course, one of those championships came over the Falcons in Super Bowl LI, with New England coming back from being down 28-3. So far, the Falcons have been the only team to have any confirmed interest in Belichick in this coaching cycle. With a second interview on the way, things between Belichick and Atlanta could heat up quickly over the coming week.
Atlanta announced on Thursday that the club has completed an interview with Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson for head coach.
The news that the Falcons will have a second interview with coach Bill Belichick obscured the news that, for the first interview, Belichick met alone with owner Arthur Blank. It shouldn’t have. The fact that Blank and Belichick had a one-on-one meeting suggests that: (1) Belichick asked for it; and (2) Blank agreed to it. The fact that Belichick will meet with the Falcons again implies that Blank also is ready to agree to whatever else Belichick wants. Such as, potentially, Belichick’s own personnel department (coincidentally, Scott Pioli has worked for the Falcons in the past) and no interference whatsoever from CEO Rich McKay. Although Belichick to Atlanta is not done yet, there’s buzz around the league that it’s moving in that direction. As one league source explained it, Belichick is believed to be done with “big-market media,” making him more inclined to go to a place like Atlanta than Dallas or Philadelphia. As to the Cowboys and the Eagles, there’s also a belief in some league circles that both team expressed interest in Belichick, that Belichick didn’t reciprocate, and that those teams then decided to stick with their current coaches. Still, it could be harder to win in Atlanta than in Dallas or Philly. While the division is weaker, the Falcons don’t have a clear answer at quarterback. They do, however, have plenty of skilled offensive players. (Maybe Belichick will run the single wing.) The bottom line is that steam is building for Belichick to the Falcons. The one-on-one meeting with ownership becomes a key to Belichick telling Blank what it’s going to take from a structural standpoint to land the greatest coach in NFL history. The second interview becomes the message that Blank is fine with whatever terms Belichick articulated in the first meeting. The question, if the deal gets done, becomes whether Belichick will have the “checks and balances” that Patriots owner Robert Kraft made clear last week had evaporated with the Patriots. Will Belichick once again be the emperor of football operations? If Blank is willing to let Belichick have that power, why wouldn’t Belichick take it? PFT / Florio
I don’t think that Belichik is the best choice for coach on any team. He is showing signs of dementia.
