Falcons Rebuild 'Parallels with Buffalo Bills,' Says GM Fontenot

If there was ever an example for NFL teams to follow while rebuilding, the Buffalo Bills might be that team.

Any organization in the NFL that's in the process of a rebuild would be ecstatic to be compared to the current Buffalo Bills. And Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot sees some similarities. 

Terry Fontenot

Falcons Owner Arthur Blank and Terry Fontenot

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Terry Fontenot

“I see a lot of parallels with Buffalo,” Fontenot said. “They took a step back to take a step forward as they went through their cap issues.”

At a press conference at the end of last year, Falcons owner Arthur Smith said that he sees the Bills’ situation as “not dissimilar to what” Atlanta is “trying to build.”

The Buffalo Bills hired general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott back in 2017 as they were coming off of three unsuccessful seasons under Rex Ryan. Those seasons saw the Bills post records of 7-9, 8-8, and 9-7, the final season under Ryan being the first winning season for Buffalo since 2004.

McDermott and Beane dealt with the same thing any other rebuilding team has to deal with, salary cap issues, and had more dead money than any other team in the league at the time. 

The new leadership team for the Bills made some tough decisions to cut some current stars who were overpaid and ride a stopgap quarterback in Tyrod Taylor. They also went free-agent shopping in the bargain bin to fill out some roster spots and went 9-7 in 2017. That was good enough for a playoff appearance in the first season of the McDermott and Beane era.

The next season saw a step backward. Even after trading up to take quarterback Josh Allen in the NFL Draft and landing a few more free agents, 6-10 was the best Buffalo could do in 2018 with a rookie under center.

But 2018 seems so far away now, as the Bills have made the postseason every year since, and are perennial contenders. They also boast one of the most loaded rosters in the league as Allen has developed into one of the best signal-callers in the NFL.

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Falcons Coach Arthur Smith

Falcons Owner Arthur Blank

Falcons QB Marcus Mariota

Buffalo has also hit on almost every decision they've made. From big-time trades like the one that brought wideout Stefon Diggs to town to home run draft picks like Matt Milano and Dion Dawkins, to salary cap decisions like knowing who to pay and who to let go. 

They've hit on almost every free agent move recently too. Their 2022 free-agent class includes linebacker Von Miller, receiver Jamison Crowder, and defensive tackle Da'Quan Jones.

The Falcons' biggest hurdle right now is the salary cap. Atlanta is stuck with quarterback Matt Ryan's record-breaking dead cap hit of $40,525,000 and the remainder of receiver Julio Jones' deal that counts $15,500,000 against their 2022 cap figures. That's 26.92 percent of the Falcons' 2022 cap space.

That figure will look a lot better in 2023 when the team is projected to free up more than $100 million in cap room. And the club looks to be moving in the right direction with its 2022 NFL Draft class.

“There may be short-term pain. But I see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Fontenot said. “Even in this year, we’re not mailing it in. If we bring in the right dudes made of the right stuff, we’re going to go out there and beat some people.”