Falcons News: Terry Fontenot should call fired GM Joe Douglas expeditiously

It’s impossible to build a consistent winner in this league drafting the way the Falcons have drafted since Fontenot took over, but he’s clearly got an eye for talent at the NFL level. Most of his pro personnel acquisitions have not only worked out for Atlanta, but they’ve been roaring successes.

That’s valuable; however, the Falcons have to do better in the draft, and someone who can help in that department just became available. On Tuesday, the Jets fired GM Joe Douglas, and Fontenot should be giving him a call right about now.

New York is a mess, and the stories coming out of East Rutherford aren’t surprising at all, considering Woody Johnson’s tenure has been marred by drama. The Jets suck, but it’s not for a lack of talent.

Douglas deserves his fair share of criticism, especially for his inability to find a franchise quarterback. Since he took over in 2019, the Jets have started eight different signal callers: Sam Darnold, Luke Falk, Trevor Siemian, Joe Flacco, Zach Wilson, Mike White, Tim Boyle and Aaron Rodgers.

Criticizing Douglas in that manner is fair, but he also had a ton of other success, especially in the draft. The Jets came away from the 2022 NFL draft with Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, Jermaine Johnson, and Breece Hall. He also drafted Will McDonald.

Of course, Douglas had his share of misses, most notably No. 2 pick Zach Wilson, along with Mekhi Becton and Denzel Mims. However, if the Falcons could somehow replicate that 2022 draft class, similar to what the Saints did in 2017, Atlanta will be smack dab in the middle of a championship window.

For a Falcons team that has already seemingly figured out the quarterback position (we think) with Kirk Cousins in the short-term and Michael Penix Jr. in the long-term, Terry Fontenot could theoretically lean on Joe Douglas in the draft to keep this window open as long as possible.