The trade deadline has come and gone, and the Atlanta Falcons roster remains the same. After building up expectations of adding a pass rusher to a desperate position group the hope of this team being relevant in January is gone.
Atlanta's unwillingness to push its chips to the center of the table and make a move is indicative of frustrations with the Atlanta front office. A team that is more than willing to sign Jessie Bates, Kirk Cousins, and Darnell Mooney for top dollar and not spend the needed picks to give them a real chance to win. This isn't to say the Falcons didn't hit home runs with each of these moves, but rather this is a team that is attempting to win now while building their future.
It continues the team's confusing message of making splashy moves and not finishing the job. Going into the offseason a year ago the entire league knew Atlanta's biggest issues after quarterback, was a lack of a pass rush. Losing Calais Campbell and Bud Dupree only made this continual problem worse. It is a problem that predates Terry Fontenot and this current Atlanta front office, one they have had four years to attempt to find a fix for.
The trade deadline was a time to make a decision either go all in on this year or sit back and accept this team's ceiling. Fontenot and the Falcons chose the latter and frustration over this decision is more than fair.
With Zac Robinson's offense and how well Kirk Cousins has played there is reason to believe this team could be relevant in the conference. This is especially the case if San Francisco continues to show regression and the Falcons were to add impact pass rushers.
However, Fontenot and Atlanta's front office instead took a step back and decided to keep moving forward with their current options. A decision that answers any hope this team could be something special and is a warning to sit back and enjoy Atlanta's division title run understanding the season will be over in the second week of January.
