Terry Fontenot one of 'two or three finalists' for Falcons GM, per report

Terry Fontenot, the New Orleans Saints' vice president/assistant general manager of pro personnel, is reportedly one of 'two or three finalists' for the Atlanta Falcons' general manager vacancy, according to a report.

ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported the news Sunday. In the report, Schefter noted that Fontenot has also interviewed with the Denver Broncos for their vacant GM position on Saturday and team officials "came away impressed."

Fontenot interviewed remotely with the Falcons on Jan. 6. So far, the Falcons have interviewed the following candidates for general manager:

• Dec. 18: Anthony Robinson, Atlanta Falcons director of college scouting
• Dec. 18: Rick Smith, former Houston Texans executive vice president of football operations
• Jan. 5: Brad Holmes, Los Angeles Rams director of college scouting
• Jan. 5: Morocco Brown, Indianapolis Colts director of college scouting

Fontenot is in his 18th season with the Saints organization and first as vice president/assistant general manager of pro personnel. Fontenot got his foot in the NFL door as a marketing intern with the Saints. It was in that role when general manager Mickey Loomis noticed Fontenot and asked him to join the team's scouting staff as an intern.

Since then, Fontenot has worked his way up through the organization, spending time as a pro scouting assistant and an assistant in player personnel. Fontenot was promoted to pro scout, a role he held for seven seasons before being promoted again to director of pro scouting, which he held for the same amount of time. Fontenot was then made Loomis's right-hand man in 2020 when his role expanded to become vice president/assistant general manager of pro personnel.

It's worth noting that the National Football League recently approved a plan to reward teams with draft picks for developing minority coaches and general managers. Under the plan, teams who end up losing minority staff members to head coaching jobs or other high-level positions like general manager, will receive draft picks as compensation.

The idea, according to Jarrett Bell of USA TODAY, is to "bolster minority hiring for high-level jobs against the backdrop of a lagging record of diversity by its teams." Bell summarized the resolution as follows:

• A team that loses a minority assistant coach who becomes a head coach or loses a personnel executive who becomes a general manager will receive third-round compensatory picks in each of the next two drafts.
• A team that loses two minority staffers to head coach and general manager positions would receive three third-round picks.

The Falcons parted ways with coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff following a 23-16 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 11, falling to 0-5 at that point.