Arguably the biggest surprise of Atlanta's offseason thus far is the decision to keep GM Terry Fontenot. Owner Arthur Blank has always had a history of extensive patience with any head coaching hires. It was clear the Falcons weren't going to fire Raheem Morris unless the players revolted or made it clear they needed a change. Morris has shown signs of improvement as Atlanta's season has ended and reason to believe things could get better for Atlanta.
However, there is no reason the team should have kept Fontenot moving into 2025. This is the same GM who signed Kirk Cousins and completely missed on the majority of his draft picks is still in control of the front office. Consistent draft misses and an inability to get the quarterback right should have demanded the Falcons make a change not sit back and simply hope things get better.
Atlanta Falcons fans are stuck with a GM who has consistently shown poor roster-building
It was under Fontenot's leadership the Falcons put their trust in Desmond Ridder, Marcus Mariota, and Kirk Cousins. It was under this same leadership the Falcons have failed for the last five years to fix the pass rush. The biggest obvious glaring hole you understood when you took the job and nearly half a decade later the Falcons have arguably gotten worse at rushing the quarterback.
All of this adds up to Atlanta fans sitting back hoping the GM is able to navigate limited cap space and have an outlier of an offseason. Fixing the pass rush is still at the top of the list as well as finding a way to trade the Kirk Cousins contract you added the previous offseason.
Atlanta's path back to contention isn't going to be a loaded roster. Fontenot has proven incapable of evaluating players at a level needed to completely rebuild this defense. The team's only path back to serious contention is relying on Penix to carry them and hoping Morris can get the most out of a limited defense.
The decision to retain Fontenot was a poor one that limits this team's ceiling and will continue to haunt them in the draft. Until this changes it is impossible to believe the Falcons have a path to becoming a serious conference contender.