5. Terry Fontenot made a mistake in signing Justin Simmons
Justin Simmons' contract was a relatively inexpensive, one-year deal but it doesn't change the fact that his play didn't warrant his salary.
Simmons started the season playing well -- he picked off Patrick Mahomes, yet again, and made some other plays. However, his age started to show the more he played. He looked like the player the Broncos thought they were releasing him.
The veteran safety isn't the player he once was. His age showed in 2024 and it will be interesting to see where his career goes.
4. Terry Fontenot failed to adequately address the cornerback position
Cornerback proved to be a massive issue for the Atlanta Falcons last season. A.J. Terrell was the only reliable piece they had and it showed, especially down the stretch.
Mike Hughes played decently at times but it still wasn't close to being enough. He was picked on and his backups weren't much better when given the chance.
However, for as bad as the No. 2 spot was, it was nothing compared to the slot position. Dee Alford was targeted at a higher rate than any cornerback and there was a reason for that. He wasn't good and things became even more frustrating when the coaching staff refused to replace him.
Fontenot should've been aggressively when addressing the cornerback position.
3. Terry Fontenot failed to address the edge rusher position like he should've
The front office's approach at edge rusher last season was littered with panic. They drafted Michael Penix Jr. and Ruke Orhorhoro in the first two rounds which forced them to address the position in the third round by drafting Bralen Trice.
Then Trice went down with a season-ending injury and the team was left panicked even though they should've been long before.
It culminated in the trade for Matt Judon and we all know how that went. The team should've addressed the position in free agency by being more aggressive. They were rumored to be interested in Danielle Hunter, which would've been a huge addition, but there were other names available that could've changed things.
2. Terry Fontenot made a mistake trading for Matt Judon
Matt Judon has been a great player throughout his career and trading a third-round pick for him seemed reasonable, at the time.
It quickly became apparent that the veteran rusher would not live up to the compensation. He racked up just 5.5 sacks the entire season and will hit the open market. 5.5 sacks for a third-rounder is beyond bad, especially considering the Falcons already lack draft picks.
Also Read: Insider links Falcons with future Hall of Fame pass rusher
This is a move that the whole organization regrets, no doubt about it.
1. Terry Fontenot made the league's biggest mistake by signing Kirk Cousins
You have heard the story by now, the Atlanta Falcons signing of veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins has already proven to be one of the worst in NFL history.
Cousins was coming off a season-ending injury as a player in his mid-30s. While he has played at a high level throughout his career, this was always a massive risk.
The allure of adding a distributing, experienced quarterback to a talented offense was too much for Fontenot. The expensive $180M contract culminated in 14 starts, 3,508 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, and a league-leading 16 interceptions. Things only get worse when you consider the loss of a fifth-round pick for tampering with Cousins, and two other free agents.
The weird thing is it wasn't even like he was all bad; he played well before he fell off a cliff around the team's bye week.
However, if you are looking for some positivity then check out some reasons why the team doesn't totally regret signing Cousins by clicking the link below.