The Falcons opened free agency with two quick signings of linebackers, Brooks Reed and Justin Durant. In more than a month since then, Atlanta has done little else, signing only low-cost players from the bargain bin.
But Falcons coach Dan Quinn says that the depth the Falcons have added in free agency — players including tackle Michael Person, tight end Jacob Tamme, defensive end Adrian Clayborn and linebacker O’Brien Schofield — is exactly what the team needed.
“The free agency part is an important to continue to add overall guys to our team,” Quinn said, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It was collectively guys we could add to the club. . . . What we were really trying to say is can we add speed. Can we add toughness in terms of adding to the team that we already had. That was the real factor going into it. How many more guys can we add and it was our job as coaches, how would these guys fit on our team? I thought in that way, we nailed it.”
The Falcons had enough cap space that they could have made a big splash with a big-name signing, but they chose to go in another direction. That approach doesn’t generate a lot of headlines, but it’s a strategic approach that the Falcons think will pay off.