Not all NFL general managers play the same game. While most front offices stay glued to public perception, Terry Fontenot lives in his own creative universe. For the Falcons GM, outside opinions aren’t just irrelevant—they’re noise. He only tunes in after the fact, rewinding past draft coverage purely for laughs. As Fontenot once put it, “There’s an article about the iPhone, and about how it’s stupid and it’ll never work: ‘You can’t have a computer in your pocket.’” That mindset alone tells you why The Dirty Birds just flipped the offseason upside down.

Now, it’s one thing to say you don’t care what people think—but Fontenot proves it every time he clocks in. Some owners want polished execs with fancy degrees. Not in Atlanta. If the front office falls in love with a player, they go and get him. No tiptoeing around tradition. As Fontenot explained, “We empower our scouts. We empower our coaches. We empower our analytics… The confidence in our building, our people and the process that we go through? We can ignore that outside and do everything we can do that we believe is going to get us to that championship that we’re seeking.”

Not surprisingly, that gutsy formula earned the Falcons the title of most aggressive team this offseason. Their approach even got highlighted on the Check The Mic podcast, with Steve Palazzolo pointing out, “Again, for the second straight year, probably the most aggressive moves in the draft… five legitimate, young defensive linemen for a team that really needed an influx of youth and talent on the defensive line.”

To be fair, it’s a roll of the dice. If three of those five defenders pan out, Atlanta’s pass rush could become flat-out nasty. If not, they’ll still be stuck in the bottom tier, forcing Raheem Morris and his staff to get creative. Still, the good news is the offense stayed mostly intact, which gives the new defense room to grow without carrying everything at once.

Back in 2021, Fontenot came over from the Saints after nearly two decades there. Since then, he’s made bold move after bold move—from hiring Morris after ditching Arthur Smith, to handing Kirk Cousins $180 million, to doubling down with Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8. He even added Bralen Trice and Matthew Judon to jumpstart a pass rush that’s been mostly lifeless. But still, Atlanta’s 8-9 finish in 2024 — sealed by a Week 18 loss to a 5-12 Panthers team—left a bitter taste.

But Terry Fontenot isn’t backing down. “Most of this off-season was defense-centric because their offense was coming back other than Drew Dolman at center,” Palazzolo said. “So they’re intact on offense, have Michael Penix Jr., had to make some aggressive moves on the defensive side of the ball, and they did it.” However, some still question their draft logic.

Terry Fontenot’s first-round gamble draws fire

ESPN’s Seth Walder isn’t cutting the Falcons any slack this summer. In fact, his frustration with GM Terry Fontenot has become an annual event. Just a few weeks ago, Walder once again circled back to Atlanta’s draft strategy—this time calling their decision to trade up for Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr. “the offseason move he disliked the most”.

Moreover, Walder laid out his frustration in detail: “Atlanta’s biggest move came during the first night of the draft—and it was a shocker. After making a perfectly fine selection of Jalon Walker at No. 15, the Falcons inexplicably dealt picks Nos. 46, 242 and a future first-round pick for Nos. 26 and 101. The Falcons’ target? Pearce, another pass rusher. There’s nothing wrong with taking two edge rushers to fill a need. But there is everything wrong with dealing a future first to move up into the back end of the first round for a non-quarterback.” To make matters worse, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that “Pearce was also off multiple teams’ draft boards due to maturity concerns.”

Even more critical was Walder’s warning about the long-term risk: “The value was bad, but it’s potentially disastrous if the Falcons end up picking early in next year’s draft. That is fully within the range of outcomes — quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is a mostly unknown quantity and FPI considers Atlanta the 26th-best team in the league entering this season.”

Despite liking a few moves—like cutting Grady Jarrett and letting Drew Dalman walk—Walder still gave the Falcons a C-minus offseason grade. That’s the second straight C-minus from him, with only the Saints faring worse. Two years ago, he even called the Bijan Robinson pick “inexcusable.”

So clearly, Walder’s faith in analytics clashes hard with Fontenot’s gut-feel approach. But if the Falcons fly in 2025? That might be the only stat that finally shuts him up.