GM: Falcons hope to get out of draft with QB

BRANCHE FLEURIE, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons are looking for a quarterback.

That doesn’t mean the team will take one with the eighth draft pick on Thursday or even Day 2 on Friday, but general manager Terry Fontenot made it clear on Tuesday: The Falcons aren’t done exploring. the idea of ​​adding another signal-caller in their room.

It won’t necessarily add a starter, but the team wants to have more than just Marcus Mariota and Feleipe Franks as options at the position.

“We’re not going to give away what we’re going to do at eight or any picks, but we could come out of this draft with a quarterback,” Fontenot said. “We want to add to this play and we’ll see what happens.”

Atlanta entered the quarterback discussion in more detail in March, after the team tried to pursue Deshaun Watson as he was bought and eventually traded from the Houston Texans to the Cleveland Browns.

As part of this process, quarterback Matt Ryan, who was still in Atlanta, first delayed the roster bonus owed to him by the Falcons and then was traded to the Indianapolis Colts. On the same day, the club signed Mariota, the No.1. 2 pick in the 2015 draft by the Tennessee Titans – to at least replace Ryan in the short term.

Ryan had been Atlanta’s quarterback since being the No. 3 overall pick in the 2008 draft. He started 222 games for the Falcons, completing 65.5% of his passes for 59,735 yards, 367 touchdowns and 170 interceptions, and was named the 2016 NFL MVP of the season.

Fontenot said the team spent a lot of time looking at this year’s quarterback class as well as 2021, when the team didn’t select a caller and signed Franks as an agent. free undrafted. Franks brought the team out of training camp and spent the season as a backup to Ryan as well as experimenting with tight end play.

Atlanta was present on most pro days for the top quarterbacks in the class this year, including Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, Liberty’s Malik Willis and Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder.

Fontenot said the first round is especially difficult to predict this year due to questions surrounding quarterbacks. Last year, for example, Fontenot said he felt like Atlanta had the first pick in the draft at No. 1. 4 because of the strong feeling that the top three picks would be quarterbacks, which they were when Trevor Lawrence went to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Zach Wilson to the New York Jets, then Trey Lance to the San Francisco 49ers.

“It’s really hard to predict,” Fontenot said. “It’s a very unique project.”

Fontenot didn’t elaborate on whether he thinks there are starting-caliber quarterbacks in this class, though he did say there are future starters at every position.

“Right now we are evaluating the players,” Fontenot said. “Of course there will be starters who come out of this class. We will only know in three or four years with some of the players. In every position there are starters, there are substitutes.”

He also said that Atlanta scouting staff looked at prices beyond 2022 only.

He said he was living “in the moment” when it comes to the draft while looking at the big picture, although he said the Falcons aren’t focused on who may or may not be targeted in 2023 if need is because so much can change in a year.

Fontenot also said he wouldn’t be disappointed if the team ends up completely bypassing a quarterback in the 2022 draft because there are other ways to add to the position. For example, Atlanta signed AJ McCarron to back Ryan on Friday of last year’s draft after failing to select a quarterback in the first round.

“It could be in the draft. It could be after the draft. It could be via trade,” Fontenot said. “We’re not going to limit ourselves to any possibility. We’re going to turn every stone over and whether it’s in the draft or not, we’ll add to that play.”

Coach Arthur Smith said he has more sway over when the Falcons might or might not take a quarterback because of the seriousness of the team building decision. Ultimately, the decision would be collaborative between Fontenot and Smith.

“That’s the one thing about football, especially professional football, it’s such a huge decision to make,” Smith said. “Especially if you’re going to invest, it’s the most important position in professional sports.

“For better or worse, the NFL and this position, it’s incredibly important to get things done, so yeah, you think about it. It’s a huge investment.”