Tag: NFL GM Candidates

Falcons complete interview with Saints’ Terry Fontenot for GM vacancy

The Atlanta Falcons went behind enemy lines to interview their fifth general manager candidate, holding a virtual conference with the New Orleans Saints vice president/assistant GM of pro personnel, Terry Fontenot, on Wednesday.

The Atlanta Falcons went behind enemy lines to interview their fifth general manager candidate, holding a virtual conference with the New Orleans Saints vice president/assistant GM of pro personnel, Terry Fontenot, on Wednesday.

As much as it may sicken Falcons fans to potentially welcome in a key member of the team’s biggest division rival, Fontenot is rightfully getting some credit for helping the Saints build what’s arguably the best roster in the NFC.

Fontenot worked his way up the ladder as a scout for New Orleans in different roles for roughly 14 years, and then became vice president/assistant general manager of pro personnel this year.

Check back for more Falcons interview updates throughout the week.

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Rich Mckay says new Falcons GM must ‘factor in’ Matt Ryan, Julio Jones

With two weeks left in the season, it won’t be too long before the Falcons hire a new general manager to lead their organization.

With two weeks left in the season, it won’t be long before the Falcons hire a new general manager to lead their organization going forward.

Team president Rich McKay joined Atlanta sports radio on Monday afternoon to discuss some criteria the Falcons will consider with each candidate. More specifically, he was asked whether a candidate’s perception of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones would factor in to the team’s final decision.

“The answer is it does factor in,” said McKay. “It effects the division of the football team.”

With both players taking up a large portion of the cap next season and not playing up to their standard in 2020, it was always assumed that these two would play a role in helping select the next GM.

McKay’s remarks are simply confirmation of that. However, it’s still unknown exactly what the team wants to do with Ryan or Jones. As stated before, both players would be nearly impossible to be move due to their cap hits and will certainly be back in 2021.

“You got to have a vision on how those players are going to fit in the future and you got to be able to articulate why, and how they will get us to the place we want to be,” said McKay. “When you deal with players as good as Julio and Matt, and as good as they’ve been, their vision for those players does matter.”

This isn’t McKay saying whether or not he prefers Ryan or Jones to stay in Atlanta, but more so, how will any incoming GM or head coach handle the two star players. Do they believe the Falcons can get quality production from this pair or is the team better off absorbing the massive cap hit and taking on a major rebuild?

Both Ryan and Jones are exceptional athletes and despite what some may believe, can still help the team win games. When Atlanta’s offense sputters the way it has as of late, it’s very easy to point fingers at the team’s two best players.

With the Falcons currently on track to land the No. 5 pick in the 2021 draft, there are a number of different directions they could go next season and beyond.

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