The Atlanta Falcons continue to refuse to make obvious improvements

When the Atlanta Falcons decided to sign Kirk Cousins ​​during the offseason, some thought the franchise was pushing its chips into the middle of the table. Signing the best quarterback on the market to a high-paying deal is a win-now decision.

The team followed by selecting Michael Penix Jr. and refusing to add key positions. This is why some fans remain frustrated with Terry Fontenot and the Atlanta front office. It’s not a lack of confidence in Penix, Cousins ​​or the young talent Atlanta has assembled.

It’s a lack of belief that the front office knows what they’re doing. It seems that they all rush into a single moment to make a decision that shapes the future the next day. The obvious counterargument here is that the team is trying to have the best of both worlds and do both in the same offseason.

This feeling is understandable but wrong. Atlanta hasn’t been a playoff team since the 2017 season. It’s been seven years looking back and it’s due to consistently awarding bad contracts and making poor draft decisions. Atlanta’s culture is a losing culture that needed a boost if they were to have any chance of becoming true conference contenders.

Instead, the Falcons went all-in on offense and seemed to just sit back and hope that something would fall into their laps to correct the corner and edge runner positions. Atlanta continually strengthened its defensive line throughout the offseason, but did not sign or trade for a single edge player. In addition to adding borderline plays to the roster, the same can be said at the corner position.

Atlanta is trying to get the best of both worlds by building and developing their players on defense and making win-now moves on offense. It’s the same thing the team did for three years at receiver. Try to bring in Bryan Edwards, Mack Hollins or Van Jefferson as a second option and correct the situation.

The apparent apathy in trying to improve at the edge and corner positions matches what Atlanta did at receiver and the results will likely be the same. The upgrades remain in free agency, which would help both the edge and corner positions.

However, it appears Atlanta is content to just sit back and continue to piece together defensive linemen hoping Arnold Ebiketie or Bralen Trice make an unexpected leap in their development. There’s no doubt that there are myriad reasons to be frustrated with Atlanta’s approach this offseason, even though the team has greatly improved.

It’s like the team is content to be good and doesn’t take any risks to be great. Sign Kirk Cousins ​​and put Penix behind him giving you a built-in excuse and a plan if things go wrong. Atlanta’s offseason appears to demonstrate a lack of conviction to go all-in or build for the future. This will give rise to a team that must be content to be good but never excellent.