Just five players left from the Atlanta Falcons Super Bowl team

During the 2016 NFL season, the Atlanta Falcons had one of their best seasons in franchise history as they won the NFC Championship and made it to the Super Bowl – though we don’t need to rehash the entire season for obvious reasons.

The 2016 Atlanta Falcons looked like they were going to be contenders for a long time with their amazing 2016 draft class.

They drafted three pro bowlers selecting Keanu Neal, Deion Jones, and Austin Hooper. They also drafted two starting-caliber players by selecting De’Vondre Campbell and Wes Schweitzer.

With this draft class and the elite level of play from Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, the Falcons looked like a force to be reckoned with for years.

The Atlanta Falcons were destroyed from the inside out

Sadly, the Atlanta Falcons front office and coaching staff failed the team by only making the playoffs once after 2016. The Falcons beat the Los Angeles Rams in the wildcard round and then would lose the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round during the 2017 season.

From that 2016 super bowl team, the Atlanta Falcons only have five players left on the roster: Matt Ryan, Jake Matthews, Grady Jarrett, Deion Jones, and Josh Harris.

Notable players that left this offseason were Alex Mack who signed with the San Francisco 49ers and Julio Jones who was traded to the Tennessee Titans.

The Atlanta Falcons super bowl was a disaster, but the front office and coaching are arguably more of a disaster considering how much talent they had. At one point or another, the Atlanta Falcons likely had three future Hall of Famers on their roster during the 2016 season: Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Alex Mack.

Not only did the Atlanta Falcons have three future Hall of Famers, but they also had eight pro bowl caliber players, not including Ryan, Julio, or Mack. By the end of the 2018 season, Desmond Trufant, Jake Matthews, Devonta Freeman, Vic Beasley, Grady Jarrett, Deion Jones, Keanu Neal, and Austin Hooper all made at least one pro bowl and were still under contract.

The fact that the Falcons had a losing season in 2018 and 2019 is borderline criminal. Sadly with all that talent and good seasons the Falcons had, they are only left with five players.

Hopefully, Terry Fontenot and Arthur Smith can change the perception and make the Atlanta Falcons contenders for years to come.