Atlanta Falcons should proceed with caution in free agency
By John Buhler
The Atlanta Falcons should put most of their 2016 offseason focus in building through the NFL Draft than in finding key pieces during the free agency period.
There are four ways to build a football team in the NFL: through the Draft, through trades, through signing undrafted free agents, and through traditional free agency.
The best teams in the NFL seem to find the most value in their own carefully selected draft picks, as well as finding a diamond in the rough in undrafted rookie free agents.
While the Atlanta Falcons have done a swell job in finding NFL talent that somehow isn’t selected in NFL Drafts, the organization under general manager Thomas Dimitroff has whiffed on too many mid-round draft selections the last eight years and put too high of a price on free agents that are largely past the prime.
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Even though the Atlanta Falcons only have five draft picks to work with in the 2016 NFL Draft, it is in the best interest of the football club to put those five selections ahead of whatever they could potentially overspend for in this spring’s NFL free agency period.
For the Atlanta Falcons to end their three-year NFC Playoff drought in 2016, the front office will need to extract as much value as they can out of the NFL Draft selections. If they feel that is too much pressure to put on five draft picks, then they should trade back one of two of their mid-round picks to gain another draft pick or two.
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Having seven draft picks is better than having five and it is certainly better than having to find yet another starter in an undrafted rookie free agent or a veteran player whose best days of football are clearly behind him.
It’s not to say be meager with regards to the NFL Salary Cap, opting to draft lower-priced rookies than sign highly priced NFL veterans, but this team building strategy will surely help Thomas Dimitroff keep future impending free agents that the organization values in-house, as opposed to letting him walk away from the Atlanta Falcons for nothing.
Winning in free agency doesn’t translate to winning on the gridiron the following season. However, winning in the NFL Draft appropriately translates into winning on the gridiron for the next several years. The Atlanta Falcons still have about a six-year window to win a Super Bowl with 31-year-old quarterback Matt Ryan under center.
The best way for Atlanta to win its first Lombardi Trophy is to ensure that they win every second, third, and fourth round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and probably the next few springs to give the Falcons a realistic shot at contending for a Super Bowl in the latter years of the Matt Ryan era in Atlanta.
Next: Thomas Dimitroff knows his job is on the line
Free agency is a short-term fix that delays the inevitable. The NFL Draft is a long-term solution for striving to become a competitive NFL franchise. Rise Up!