Despite Tuesday being NFL trade deadline day, it was a pretty quiet day on the trade front all in all. The Jets struck some massive deals and embarrassed themselves once again, but most of the NFL, including the Atlanta Falcons, were relatively silent relative to expectations fans were setting.
The 3-5 Falcons entered the deadline as one of the most intriguing teams to watch, since they could have exited the day as buyers or sellers, but that was clearly all for naught. The Dirty Birds failed to make a trade for the second consecutive year, and did not do anything to change their perception in league circles.
They had glaring holes on the offensive line, at wide receiver, and for some additional depth on defense, but Terry Fontenot did what he does best—remain conservative at a crucial point in time. This team faces an uphill battle to snap their playoff drought, and saying they're better off would be a complete lie.
The Falcons' 2025 trade deadline reeks of missed opportunity
Part of this can be attributed to the clear sellers market across the NFL, but that's no excuse. Atlanta could have parted with expiring contracts like Kyle Pitts or Tyler Allgeier or tried to shed the salaries of veterans like Kirk Cousins and David Onyemata, but there was minimal interest across the league.
After trading their 2026 first-rounder away on draft day, this team needs all the draft capital they could get their hands on, but it looked like there was no urgency to obtain any. Not being uber-aggressive to trade picks is one thing, but failing to make one singular trade is very disappointing.
This team can't keep trotting out the same lineup week in and week out expecting the problems with this team to magically evaporate away. It's this sort of stagnancy and refusal to make changes that has Fontenot and Raheem Morris on the hot seat to begin with, and it feels like there's no end in sight.
Jakobi Meyers would have been the perfect complement to Drake London and Darnell Mooney and a fantastic safety valve for Michael Penix Jr., yet Fontenot didn't want to part with a fourth-rounder to get the deal done—even though the Saints got more from Seattle in exchange for Rashid Shaheed.
The fanbase is getting tired of the losing, the players are getting tired of the losing, and surely the coaches are getting tired of the losing, so patience is wearing thin. It's a real possibility that they get fired at the end of the season, meaning they could have just squandered their final opportunity to save their jobs.
And if things don't turn around any time soon, starting with the Week 10 trip to Berlin against the Colts, it could be a new regime reaping the benefits of this talented roster.