FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- For the first time since the final day of the 2024 NFL Draft, Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot fielded questions from local media about the state of the team.
Here's a breakdown of three key discussions within that conversation.
Responding to league's anti-tampering decision
Back in June, the league ruled that the Falcons would be docked a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft as a result of improper contact with Kirk Cousins, Darnell Mooney and Charlie Woerner prior to the league's legal tampering window. The organization was fined $250,000 for the violation, and Fontenot himself was fined $50,000.
"We take full accountability and we appreciate the league's process," Fontenot said. "We went through the whole process and we were very cooperative. We take full ownership of the penalty. And we don't take that lightly. We take it serious. We have to look at everything we do and make sure that we're operating at a high standard in every area."
Asked later if the loss of a draft pick alters the strategy they're already working toward in regards to next year's draft, Fontenot said no.
"We compartmentalize. We separate things. We say, 'OK, we're focused on the draft,'" Fontenot explained. "We participate and did everything the league needed us to do, and then we're just focused on the draft. But you kind of have to compartmentalize."
An honest conversation about quarterback play
As we reported Tuesday, Falcons owner Arthur Blank said he felt optimistic and hopeful about the direction of the team in 2024. Following up with Fontenot Wednesday, the general manager was asked what aspect of the organization brings forth the most optimism to the point Blank would point it out. Fontenot singled out the quarterback room very quickly in his own response.
"I think when you go out there and you see Kirk Cousins with the first team just lighting it up. And then you see (Michael) Penix come in with the next team, and he's lighting it up. That room is a little different," Fontenot said. "Just being completely transparent, that room is different, and that makes a difference."
It's the difference a franchise caliber quarterback makes. Seeing this difference immediately was the reason the Falcons paid Cousins the money they did to get him to Atlanta. But, Fontenot added, it's also the team around him, too. A team that has been pieced together incrementally over the last three seasons.
"We all have high standards because of what we see out there. We have a lot of belief in this team," Fontenot said. "We don't want to put specific numbers on it. We just want to get the most out of this team."
And the goal?
"We want to represent our fans the right way," Fontenot said. "We want the fans to be proud of this team. We want them to know that whether its a home game or an away game ... they know that when we come into that stadium, we have a good chance to win that game, and they can go away proud. And that's what we want."
Inside the process of cutting down a roster
Roster cuts are coming. It's the inevitability of training camp. Fontenot gave a little peek behind the curtain of how the Falcons come to their roster decisions.
According to the general manager, an exercise the coaching staff and front office work through as cuts loom is stacking players based on the individuals, themselves, not necessarily the position they play. Who do they consider to be the best 53 players on the team? That's the question they ask themselves.
It's an exercise that Fontenot said is indicative of the roster-building process and the Falcons' in-house philosophy on the construction of it.
"You always want to make sure that you're not cutting a player because of a position surplus," Fontenot said.
He added he would rather go heavy on a position if it meant keeping a player the staff feels conviction in being a standout player.
That is challenging in and of itself, but with the added element of the new kickoff rules and how it affects roster construction, Fontenot said that's something everyone in the league is looking at as "TBD."
"We have a plan of exactly what we want to do and how we want to attack it in terms of the coverage, but we have to kind of see and feel this thing out of how its really going to go," Fontenot said. "We're building the team the right way. We've always emphasized the kicking game and those areas. We want big, strong, physical players that can go play in the kicking game, but there's going to be a little TBD with that."
