Atlanta Falcons Owner and CEO Speak on Future Plans, Matt Ryan, More

The Atlanta Falcons are making changes.

By now, it's no secret that Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff have been let go by the Atlanta Falcons after an 0-5 start in what owner Arthur Blank deemed as a 'playoffs or bust' 2020 campaign. 

When asked why the move came now, Blank offered this response:

“I would say there are probably two reasons. One is that we made it clear, and they made it clear, it was kind of a mutual collateral togetherness, in a circle, that this year was going to be a playoff year or bust, if you will," said Blank. "Dan signed up for that, so did Thomas, so did this owner, so did Mr. McKay, our president and CEO. Our fans did, too. It was pretty clear when you go 0-5 that's not going to happen. So, I think that we made the right, in my view, decision the end of last year. It's always easy to look back, a Monday morning quarterback. But given the time we had last year, the team was 6-2 the back half of last year," Blank continued. "We were fifth in the league in offense, eighth in the league in defense, won three away games to opponents that were really good and playing for high purpose at that time. 

Blank went on to say he felt the strong finish to 2019 was reason for optimism, not a change.

"In my opinion, we had every reason to think this situation, if anything, would get better," the owner added. "We'd roll over and, in fact, get better given free agency and draft. It hasn't. When you go back and look at the last three years plus five games, et cetera, our record has been less than .500. That's never what I'm about, personally. It's not what promised Atlanta in 2001 when we acquired the franchise. It's not what Rich is about. It's not what we're about in any of our businesses. It is the best or nothing. This philosophy is true with our football team. We felt this was just the right time to do it.”

In regards to what he wants the future direction of the franchise to be, Blank was rather direct.

“Direction? It's called winning," said Blank. "What was that expression, Al Davis: Just win, baby, something like that. May he rest in peace. I think we need to win. That's what our fans are counting on. That's what they signed up for. We ask them for a lot," the owner continued. 

"Their resources, their commitment, their energy, their passion, their time, all of that of the families as well...We've created the right environment and stadium, but we have to have a better set of results on the field. Our fans are entitled to that. Our organization is certainly, but our fans are entitled to that. That's been my commitment. At the end of the day whether it's reflected in the book Good Company, you read about it there, we are about our fans, we are about responding to them, understanding this is a reciprocal relationship, and we have to be there for them as well.”

Another notable topic that came up was the future of Matt Ryan with the franchise. While Blank noted he loved Ryan, he did not make any promises in regards to his future with the team.

“I love Matt, much like I love Dan, I love Thomas. Matt has been a franchise leader for us, a great quarterback, one of the leading quarterbacks in the last 13 years in the NFL," said Blank. 

"I hope he's going to be part of our plans going forward. But that will be a decision I won't make," Blank added. "Matt has the ability to play at a very high level even at this age. Whether that's going to continue or not, I'm not sure...I will have to see, but again, that's going to be a decision at the end of the day that will part of it up to the player and part of it up to the coaching staff. Whether or not Matt can keep himself together, God willing he'll be able to do that, and play at the level that he's capable of playing at.”

The Falcons seem to be inching towards a rebuild, whether they have fully accepted that reality or not. The cap situation is not ideal, the quarterback is aging, and the defense has several holes. It remains to be seen if the Falcons try to do another on-the-fly retool for another run with Ryan, Julio Jones, and company, but it doesn't seem out of the question that even more significant changes are on the horizon.

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