There is no denying that it has been a strange offseason for the Atlanta Falcons. They tore down leadership in both the front office and coaching staff to rebuild a team with enough talent on the field to make the playoffs.
The new regime then brought in a new, cheap quarterback, reunited the team with numerous veterans, prioritized depth, and made the most of their lack of draft capital. All told, it has been a solid offseason.
That is why it is frustrating to see outsiders discredit the team's moves; they have done the best they can with what they have. And that frustration only multiplies when you see the rest of the NFC South being praised for their strong offseasons.
That is why not many Falcons fans will be happy seeing the offseason report cards as created by Bleacher Report's Brant Sobleski, who gave the Falcons a C+ grade for their offseason -- not bad, but also not good.
The Atlanta Falcons already fielded a dynamic offense with Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts. Yet the unit finished 14th in total offense last season," Sobleski wrote. "Significant talent can be found on Atlanta's roster. The group needs to come together under its new leadership so the Falcons can finally take over the NFC South."
Nobody in the NFL understands the vision around the Falcons' offseason
You can live with Sobleski's assesment as long as their division rivals are held to the same standard. Unfortunately, they aren't as the Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers each received a 'B'.
Each of those teams had a strong draft, and so did the Falcons. Yeah, they may not have had a first-round pick, but they landed a top-20 talent in Avieon Terrell.
On the free agency side of things, the Panthers made the biggest moves by signing linebacker Devin Lloyd and overpaying defensive end Jaelan Phillips. The Lloyd signing was a steal, but signing Phillips to a $120 million deal is ridiculous.
The Saints' biggest move was giving up on franchise legend, Alvin Kamara, with the four-year, $52-million deal they signed Travis Etienne to. They also signed Kaden Elliss, which hurts to say.
And then you have the Bucs, who did virtually nothing. They brought back tight end Cade Otton and signed running back Kenneth Gainwell and linebacker Alex Anzalone. If we wanted to be cynical we would say their biggest signing was David Sills. And they lost Mike Evans and Lavonte David.
Meanwhile, the Falcons loaded up on free-agent steals with the signings of Tua Tagovailoa, Brian Robinson, Jahan Dotson, Samson Ebukam, Azeez Ojulari, and Christian Harris. All low-stakes deals.
The casual fan wouldn't understand the significance of those signings. They landed a playoff quarterback on the cheapest possible deal and took a shot on some previously productive role players for little cost.
All told, not much sticks out from the NFC South's offseason, which is why it is puzzling to see the Falcons receive a significantly lower grade than the other three teams. It appears the disrespect won't change anytime soon.
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