Every NFL general manager struggles in at least one area; for Terry Fontenot it is making trades.
The Atlanta Falcons' GM has a troubled history making trades, which should leave him wary moving forward.
Terry Fontenot's trade history is rocky with Atlanta Falcons
Terry Fontenot hasn't made a ground-breaking blockbuster trade yet, but he has made plenty of big trades, most of which haven't worked out.
Whether it is player-for-pick trades or the reverse, the Falcons' top front office guy has not been good. Let's take a look at his history.
2021:
- Traded for Lee Smith for 7th rounder
- Traded Julio Jones, 6th rd for 2nd rd (Troy Andersen) and 4th rd (Later traded)
The Lee Smith trade was a win, but getting mainly Troy Andersen for Julio Jones hurts. Granted, they used the other pick to help trade up for Matthew Bergeron two years later
2022:
- Traded Matt Ryan for 3rd rd (DeAngelo Malone)
- Traded for Bryan Edwards, 7th rd (DeMarcco Hellams) for 5th rd
- Traded Deion Jones, 7th rd for 6th rd (Zion Logue)
- Traded Calvin Ridley for 3rd rd (Later traded) and 5th rd (later traded)
- Traded Dean Marlowe for 7th rd (Later traded)
- Traded cond. pick (resulted in nothing) for Rashad Fenton
The real kicker in here is trading away Matt Ryan for DeAngelo Malone, who will likely be released soon.
The Bryan Edwards trade was bad (minus landing Hellams). The receiver had three receptions for 15 yards in red and black.
The Calvin Ridley trade helped the Falcons trade for Jeff Okudah and trade up for Ruke Orhorhoro.
2023:
- Traded for Jonnu Smith for 7th rd
- Traded for Jeff Okudah for 5th rd
- Traded for Van Jefferson, 7th rd (later traded) for 6th rd
- Traded for Kentavius Street, cond. pick for 7th rd
We talk about all the bad trades but Jonnu Smith was a steal, even if it was just one season. Kentavius Street wasn't bad either.
Nevertheless, Jeff Okudah was a bust and Van Jefferson was one of the worst starting receivers with the Falcons—thinking about it still frustrates me.
2024:
- Traded for Rondale Moore for Desmond Ridder
- Traded for Matt Judon for 3rd pick
- Traded Taylor Heinicke for 7th rd (Jack Nelson)
The Moore, Ridder trade is null; neither did anything for their new teams.
Matt Judon for a third-round pick is killer. While he got hot down the stretch, his impact for the defense was non-existent. You would've loved to have made that third-round pick.
To give Fontenot credit, somehow, he got something for an inaccurate backup who was going to be cut.
Leaving out the draft-day trades results in an unfinished picture. But we can finish it by saying we have seen Richie Grant swing-and-misses and Matt Bergeron home runs.
When you look at the totality of these trades, much of the issues arise in Fontenot's struggles in the draft. He has not had a high success rate, making many of these trades look bad.
In summary, while the Falcons GM hasn't had that catastrophic trade, most of them have resulted in the other teams feeling like they got away with a steal. Hopefully, that will change moving forward.