This is a damning indictment on Terry Fontentot’s tenure as Falcons GM

Depending on how the season ends, it’s very likely the Falcons could be searching for a new head coach and GM this offseason. Most Falcons fans can’t get rid of Raheem Morris fast enough, but in a somewhat surprising twist, there seems to be much more pushback when it comes to the future of GM Terry Fontenot.

Fontenot has done some good things since taking over in Atlanta — most notably completely revitalizing a pass rush that’s been dormant for two decades. It may have taken five years, but for an organization that’s struggled so mightily to generate sacks for so long, he’s deservedly receiving praise for helping build a unit that ranks third in the NFL with 39 sacks, already eight more than last year. Even more encouraging: most of that production has come from players drafted within the last three years.

The Falcons have also had real success in free agency under Fontenot. Jessie Bates III, Kaden Elliss, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Mike Hughes are just a few examples of players who far exceeded the value of their original deals.

But despite all of that, the Falcons are headed toward their fifth straight losing season under Fontenot with no end in sight. Ignoring that would be nothing short of willful ignorance, especially given what Mike Sando of The Athletic has described as the “organizational malpractice” Fontenot has committed throughout his tenure.

From the moment he took over, Fontenot went against the grain. He made Kyle Pitts the highest-drafted tight end in league history, taking him fourth overall ahead of Ja’Marr Chase, Patrick Surtain, Penei Sewell, and Micah Parsons. Pitts likely won’t make it to a second contract in Atlanta, while the players drafted behind him are already on Hall of Fame trajectories.

Fontenot then doubled — and tripled — down on skill positions in the top 10 of the next two drafts. And while Drake London and Bijan Robinson have been far more productive than Pitts, some of their best years are being wasted due to poor quarterback play, which brings us to Fontenot’s two biggest misses at the most important position in the sport.

“The Falcons became notorious last year for using a top-10 pick for quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who had significant durability concerns, only weeks after signing Kirk Cousins, who was coming off a torn Achilles tendon, to a deal with $90 million fully guaranteed,” Sando writes. “This complicated their quarterback timeline without delivering a top quarterback to Atlanta.”

A couple of offseasons ago, the Falcons thought they had outsmarted the league, building a plan to compete now and in the future. In reality, all they did was make things more complicated, invite nonstop quarterback controversy, and severely limit the odds of either Cousins or Penix succeeding in Atlanta. Now Penix is set for his third season-ending ACL injury, and Cousins will need something special down the stretch to even be on the roster in 2026. Once again, the Falcons head into the offseason without a clear answer at quarterback.

And for the icing on the cake, the Falcons don’t even have a first-round pick next year. They traded it on draft night to land Xavier Watts and James Pearce Jr. Given how productive both have been as rookies, Atlanta shouldn’t feel too bad about the return, but it’s still hard to justify when the team sits at 4–7 with glaring needs at quarterback. That’s the kind of move a team on the cusp of Super Bowl contention makes, not a team with questions everywhere and no stability under center.

Terry Fontenot deserves praise for the Falcons’ resurgent pass rush. He’s proven he has an eye for talent at the professional level. But his biggest mistake was believing he was the smartest guy in every room he walked into. The Falcons have consistently gone against the grain when it comes to team-building, and at every turn, it’s backfired. Now the organization is as lost as ever, still without a winning season in five years. No general manager should be able to survive that.

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Photographer: Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire

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