Atlanta Falcons: Terry Fontenot's roster construction has been brilliant
In 2021, Terry Fontenot went from helping to manage a team that was—and still is—in a terrible salary cap situation, to being the manager of a different team that was in a similarly-bad salary cap situation. Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank gave Fontenot full control of the roster after hearing about his clear and concise blueprint.
It was one thing for Fontenot to totally tear down the roster and another for him to actually do something with the gained resources. And while we still need to see how things play out, his plan for how to construct this roster has been ingenious.
The construction of the Atlanta Falcons roster has been brilliant thanks to GM Terry Fontenot
Terry Fontenot has not wavered from his game plan for one moment since being hired as the Atlanta Falcons general manager in 2021. He inherited an older team that was hampered by some big contracts, but Fontenot found a way to fight through all of that and build a roster that is constructed in an excellent way.
The Falcons have bit the bullet the past two years and rolled out a couple of rosters that were severely lacking in order to build his team how he envisioned—in other words, short-term pain for long-term health.
Moving on from franchise legends like Julio Jones, Matt Ryan, and even Deion Jones enabled them to free up cap space for this past offseason and moving forward. But most people already know about all of that; what I want to focus on is how Fontenot has built this roster.
To sum it all up, the Falcons' GM has brought in youth at positions that rely on athleticism and veterans at positions which rely more on tactical moves (which I touched on in the past and I strongly suggest clicking the link right below and skimming through it).
In that article, I listed each position from youngest to oldest and it sums up the whole premise of this article. Cornerback is the youngest position for the Falcons, followed by running back, wide receiver, tight end, linebacker, and safety.
Youth usually equals athleticism and who doesn't want athleticism at CB, RB, WR, TE, LB, and S?
Outside of quarterback and fullback (which have small sample sizes of players), defensive line, edge rusher, and offensive line are the oldest positions on the team—positions that rely mostly on hand-to-hand combat, technique, and power. Having experience at those technically-demanding positions is another brilliant idea by Fontenot.
That is one of the main reasons I believe that this Falcons team is beautifully constructed. I also guarantee this has been part of Fontenot's plan, in some capacity, all along.
While we still need to see them make the playoffs, early indications are that the Atlanta Falcons are on the right track to breaking their postseason drought and their ever-so-elusive first Lombardi trophy.
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