The Atlanta Falcons made the perfect decisions at quarterback

Let’s be clear off from the start the Atlanta Falcons appear to have made the perfect decisions in parting ways with Matt Ryan, signing Mariota, and deciding to pick Desmond Ridder late in the draft.  The decisions the team did ultimately make at the position appear to have been the perfect ones, however, this in no way explains the terrible choice to chase Deshaun Watson this past off-season.

Atlanta has to feel great about the off-season they had even with Mariota’s continued struggles. They are finding ways to win games consistently and Mariota has helped bring the run game to life. The Falcons appear to have jumped off Matt Ryan at the perfect time with the quarterback becoming a turnover machine and eventually being benched by the Colts.

The Falcons set themselves up to eat Ryan’s dead cap hit this season and be able to make moves they wouldn’t have next year if they had stuck with the veteran. While the trade at the time appeared to be decidedly one-sided in the Colts’ favor it is hard now to argue against Atlanta clearly winning this trade.

Signing Mariota was the right decision as well when you consider the rest of the quarterback market and the lack of options that would allow the Falcons to win without signing an ugly contract.

After Mariota the Falcons still approached the draft considering each of the top quarterbacks as a potential face of the franchise. While it is impossible to say they have the perfect fit in Ridder it does appear the decisions to pass on Malik Willis, Kenny Pickett, and Matt Corral will all age well.

With Willis appearing lost as a passer for the Titans, Pickett becoming a turnover machine, and Corral looking completely overmatched in the preseason before his injury. Ridder was the right fit for this team and gives them their best chance at finding a franchise quarterback in what now appears to be a very bad class at the position.

While we are a long way from finding out how good this Atlanta team is capable of being it is fair to say that the Falcons clearly made the perfect off-season decisions at quarterback. Decisions that are not only paying off for Atlanta this season but decisions that have set this team up to make almost any move they want at the quarterback position or otherwise next off-season.