Atlanta Falcons continue to refuse to make obvious upgrades

When the Atlanta Falcons made the move of signing Kirk Cousins this offseason there was some belief that the franchise was pushing their chips to the center of the table. Signing the best quarterback on the market to a highly-paid deal is a win-now move.

One the team has followed up by drafting Michael Penix Jr. and refusing to add to key positions. This is why a portion of the fanbase remains frustrated with Terry Fontenot and the Atlanta front office. It isn't a lack of belief in Penix, Cousins, or the young talent Atlanta has assembled.

It is a lack of belief that the front office knows what they are doing. It appears they are going all in one moment only to make a move that builds for the future the next. The obvious counterargument here is the team is attempting to have the best of both worlds and do both in the same offseason.

The Atlanta Falcons continue to ignore the obvious issues at edge rusher and corner

This sentiment is understandable but misguided. Atlanta hasn't been a playoff team since the 2017 season. That is seven years in the rearview and that is due to consistently handing out bad contracts and making poor draft decisions. Atlanta's culture is a losing one that needed a jolt if they wanted a chance to become real conference contenders.

Instead, the Falcons went all in on the offense and appeared to be simply sitting back and hoping something falls in their lap to fix the corner and edge rusher positions. Atlanta has continually added to the defensive line throughout the offseason but hasn't signed or traded for a single edge rusher. Aside from adding borderline roster pieces, the same can be said at the corner position.

Atlanta is attempting to have the best of both worlds building and developing their players on defense and making win-now moves offensively. It is the same thing the team did for three years at the receiver position. Attempting to bring in Bryan Edwards, Mack Hollins, or Van Jefferson to be the second option and fix the position.

The seeming apathy at attempting to improve at the edge and corner positions matches what Atlanta had done at receiver and the results are likely to be the same. Upgrades remain in free agency that would help both the edge and corner positions.

However, it seems that Atlanta remains content to simply sit back and continue collecting defensive linemen hoping Arnold Ebiketie or Bralen Trice take an unexpected leap in development. No question, that there are a myriad of reasons to be frustrated with Atlanta's offseason approach despite the team being greatly improved.

It is as if the team is content to be good and not take any risks to be great. Sign Kirk Cousins and put Penix behind him giving you a built-in excuse and plan if things go sideways. Atlanta's offseason seems to speak to a lack of conviction of going all in or building for the future. This is going to result in a team that must be content with being good but never great.