3 Ways the Atlanta Falcons have botched the off-season

3. Is Atlanta actually attempting to rebuild if so why are they not more convincing?

Rebuilding is a straightforward process that any Madden GM could explain. The goal is to amass draft picks and to tear the team down to the studs ridding yourself of bad contracts and veterans in hopes of finding and building a young winning core. While the trade of Matt Ryan made sense in this one regard, however, the reasoning behind it never did.

Atlanta traded Ryan after attempting to deal Watson which was a questionable move for a myriad of reasons.  Aside from the obvious off-the-field concerns was Atlanta really willing to pay three-first-round picks for a quarterback? What would going all in for Watson accomplish aside from mortgaging their future for a player who cannot win without a good roster?

We watched Deshaun his last active year in the league finish with a top-ten draft pick with a bad Texans team that wasn’t anywhere close to playoff contention. Trading for Watson creates more issues for Atlanta both on their roster and with their fanbase.  The Browns and even Panthers made sense for Watson considering the talent on their respective rosters, Atlanta needed to be focused on acquiring more assets not spending them.

This point was furthered when Atlanta signed Lorenzo Carter to a one-year deal surrendering a 4th round draft pick in the process. So to be clear Atlanta signed an injury-prone edge rusher to a one-year deal giving up a chance to select a player in the fourth round who would have been under team control for four years. If Atlanta is actually rebuilding what sense does this move make? Is Carter really going to help a terrible Atlanta roster win right now?

The Atlanta front office lacks conviction in a rebuild that they started. Their goal should be clear, acquire more draft picks and trade veterans. Signing and attempting to trade for veterans and spending draft picks is just a small piece of what has made the early off-season a frustrating one for Atlanta Falcons fans who are starting to lose faith in the front office.