Breaking down the three final candidates for the Atlanta Falcons’ open general manager position
The Atlanta Falcons have reportedly narrowed their search for the open general manager position to just three final candidates.
The AJC’s D. Orlando Ledbetter reported Wednesday morning that the Falcons have moved forward with three finalists for the job and it looks as if that search is moving along much faster than the head coach opening.
It was reported earlier this week that the Atlanta Falcons were showing legitimate interest in Joe Brady as the next coach, but today we’re going to focus on general manager.
Though there hasn’t been any inklings as to which way the Falcons are leaning, here’s a break down of the three final candidates.
Rick Smith
Former Texans GM Rick Smith is a finalist for the position and he’s a name that many analysts hadn’t pegged as someone with a legitimate shot at winning the job prior to the search getting underway.
Smith is the most experienced of the three candidates and he was a major part of building the Texans’ roster over the last decade. The Texans did win a division championship under his oversight and perhaps the most impressive portion of his time in Houston was during the 2017 NFL Draft when the Texans made the decision to trade up and draft QB Deshaun Watson, which turned out to be a franchise-changing move.
Smith announced he would be taking a leave of absence in late December of 2017 to be with his wife, who was battling breast cancer, and he ultimately never stepped back into the GM role with the Texans.
Smith is absolutely qualified and a bright mind. He has made some mistakes along the way with Houston, but it’s clear that organization has gotten significantly worse in decision-making since he left.
Brad Holmes
The name that had seemed to gain some traction with the Atlanta Falcons in the last few days is Brad Holmes.
Now, it’s not so certain that would be the case.
Holmes is now reportedly considered the ‘favorite’ to win the vacant Detroit Lions GM opening. He could always turn the Lions down in favor of the Falcons, but it would seem that Atlanta would need to have a sense of urgency about them if they want to beat out Detroit for Holmes’ services.
Holmes has become a popular candidate because of his work in the draft the past few years in turning around the LA Rams as the director of college scouting.
Terry Fontenot
And then there’s the most likely candidate.
It was reported earlier that the Falcons may very well be down to Holmes and Fontenot as their final two options and, if the Lions are close to striking a deal with Holmes, the decision may very well be made for Atlanta.
Fontenot has served as the director of pro scouting for the last six years with the New Orleans Saints and he has been with the franchise for 16 years total.
He has done an excellent job and is one of the reasons why the Saints have been so consistently successful over the last decade.
Fontenot may not be the name that many Atlanta Falcons fans want to hear- simply because of his background with the Saints- but if you want a proven winner who knows what competitive culture is all about, it doesn’t seem likely you could go wrong with Fontenot.