Rich McKay is pleased with the work of general manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Arthur Smith, who completed their second season on Sunday.
The Falcons beat the Buccaneers 30-17 on Sunday to complete the regular-season 7-10, the franchise’s fifth consecutive losing season. The Falcons also went 7-10 in 2021.
McKay, who was the Falcons president and chief operating officer, was named CEO of AMBSE, the parent company of the Falcons owned by Arthur Blank, on Monday. Fontenot and Smith will continue to report to McKay in the company’s new corporate structure.
“That’s just part of what we did when we hired Terry and Arthur,” McKay said. “That was the situation that we had with them. I led that search. Arthur Blank makes the ultimate decision on who to hire. But the ideal was that part of the business would stay with me.”
McKay said he wanted to remain in charge of football operations.
“So, I’m happy to have that,” McKay said. “That’s what I like doing and what I enjoy. I’m happy to have it.”
McKay, who was the team’s general manager from 2003-08, believes that Fontenot and Smith have the Falcons pointed in the right direction.
“I’m as confident or more confident in the two individuals and the programs that they’ve put in place than when we hired them,” McKay said. “I knew the challenges. We all knew the challenges that we faced in the roster. We looked at it much more as a transition than the word rebuild.”
The Falcons traded away or cut several keys players including former Pro Bowlers in wide receiver Julio Jones, quarterback Matt Ryan, linebacker Deion Jones, outside linebacker Dante Fowler and safety Keanu Neal. They did retain left tackle Jake Matthews and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett.
“I think that’s what you’ve seen them try to do is transition to new schemes and new personnel,” McKay said.
The new regime elected to play last season with a NFL record amount of dead-salary cap space of $77.54. Las Vegas set the Falcons over-and-under win total at 4.5 wins. Smith and his coaching staff coaxed seven wins out of the roster as they tried to develop young talent.
“The salary cap is talked about a lot and I don’t think at one point that I’ve ever heard them use the salary cap as an excuse,” McKay said. “They haven’t at all.”
The Falcons will have nearly $70 million in salary cap space when the new league year starts in March.
“I do think we have finally gotten ourselves in that place where you want to be where we have room to do what you may want to do from a flexibility standpoint,” McKay said. “And, to extend people that you’ve drafted or have been drafted to build upon.”
The Falcons, who won six home games during the 2022 season, will look toward a winning record and perhaps even legitimately contend for the playoffs.
“We all want to win games and fan bases, God love them, they are really into it,” McKay said. “Fans want to win games. We owe that to them and we will continue down that path.”
Fontenot and Smith have generally stayed the course of their plan. Although the pursuit of Deshaun Watson before the season looks like a major gamble that didn’t work out.
“I think what I’ve seen is they described a plan and a way they were going to play games and a way they were going to build the roster,” McKay said. “They have really followed that and have not varied from it.”
McKay noted that the team played hard for Smith in 2022.
“Had a couple games this year, more than one or two, that came down to one play,” McKay said. “For me, I’m in the same place I was when I hired them. I’m very confident in where they are and what is in front of them. I think the same would go for Arthur Blank, he would say the same thing.”
The NFC South was weak in 2022. Tampa Bay won the division with an 8-9 record. The rest of the division all finished 7-10.
The Falcons will be expected to contend for the division title moving forward.
“Sure, they’ve had two draft classes,” McKay said. “They’ve had two draft classes and both of which, they’ve hit on a number of players. Yeah, you’re never trying to go anywhere but forward.”
Fontenot and Smith have several big decisions to make in order to improve the team. From deciding if Desmond Ridder is the quarterback of the future to adding more players in free agency and the draft.
“It’s just that in our game there are so many variables,” McKay said. “For instance, you haven’t heard anybody talk about Kyle Pitts in six weeks. Nor, should we. He’s an injured player. But he’s a very impactful player for them not to have. But that’s just part of what happens.”
Will it be the playoffs or bust for the Falcons in 2023? The team has not played in the playoffs or been over .500 since the 2017 season.
“You can have your expectations for next year,” McKay said. “You can have the idea that we’re in a better place now. We’ve got more cap room. We’ve got all those things. It doesn’t’ mean that the variables are going to line up that way. That’s one thing that I always say as a caveat.”
McKay is not sure where to set the bar for next season.
“Then all of sudden (someone) says they have to go to the playoffs or you got to win this many games,” McKay said. “I think all of that is just not appropriate. I love it in the media, I just … internally, that’s not the way that we look at it. Internally, it’s are we going in the right direction. Are we following the plan and are we making progress and dealing with the variables.”
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Atlanta Falcons 2022 results
Sept. 11 Saints 27, Falcons 26
Sept. 18 Rams 31, Falcons 27
Sept. 25 Falcons 27, Seahawks 23
Oct. 2 Falcons 23, Browns 20
Oct. 9 Buccaneers 21, Falcons 15
Oct. 16 Falcons 28, 49ers 14
Oct. 23 Bengals 35, Falcons 17
Oct. 30 Falcons 37, Panthers 34 OT
Nov. 6 Chargers 20, Falcons 17
Nov. 10 Panthers 25, Falcons 15
Nov. 20 Falcons 27, Bears 24
Nov. 27 Commanders 19, Falcons 13
Dec. 4 Steelers 19, Falcons 16
BYE WEEK
Dec. 18 Saints 21, Falcons 18
Dec. 24 Ravens 17, Falcons 9
Jan. 1 Falcons 20, Cardinals 19
Jan. 8 Falcons 30, Buccaneers 17
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