After retaining general manager Thomas Dimitroff last year while reducing his responsibilities and granting new coach Dan Quinn final say on the roster, Falcons owner Arthur Blank signaled his satisfaction with the partnership by signing Dimitroff to a contract extension.
Blank and Dimitroff agreed on a three-year contract extension, the team announced Monday. Dimitroff’s contract now runs through the 2019 season, same as Quinn’s. Blank hired Quinn in January 2015.
In a statement released by the team, Blank said he believes the Falcons are “seeing the fruits of (Quinn and Dimitroff’s) shared vision and plan coming together in our recent draft classes and free agent acquisitions.” The Falcons finished 8-8 during the first season of the Quinn/Dimitroff era and are 6-3 this season.
“We’re in a spot where the arrow definitely is up and I think we have a lot of budding talent here that can take us to the levels we want to get to,” Dimitroff said. “Love the way Dan coaches this football team. I love the way our coaches are working with these guys and really instilling the confidence in this team to make a run at it. In my mind—Dan used the word earlier in the season—we are a contender-type team.”
Blank hired Dimitroff as head of his franchise’s football operations in January, 2008. Dimitroff and coach Mike Smith led the Falcons to five consecutive winning seasons from 2008 and 2012 and a franchise-record three consecutive playoff berths 2010 to 2012.
But the Falcons lost the 2012 NFC championship game to the 49ers while blowing a 17-0 lead and haven’t been back to the playoffs. Blank fired Smith after the Falcons finished 6-10 in 2014, which followed a 4-12 season in 2013. But Blank retained Dimitroff while reducing his responsibilities with pro and college scouting and the draft and having Quinn report to the owner instead of the GM.
The front-office arrangement seemed unwieldy, and the Falcons struggled to explain exactly how it would work. Adding to the football operations structure then included four other people with GM experience in addition to Dimitroff.
Quinn said Monday that the partnership with Dimitroff has worked.
“It was the arrangement we both were looking for to see the team together and evaluate players and if we had disagreements, we would work them out together,” Quinn said. “As far as reporting (to Blank), I wanted to be the coach and partner up with the general manager to help assist in every which way. It’s been a good fit for the two of us.”
The Falcons have received promising early returns from recent first-round draft picks, including pass rusher Vic Beasley (2015) and safety Keanu Neal (2016). This year they added two impact veteran free agents, center Alex Mack and defensive end Dwight Freeney.
Dimitroff was in charge of the Falcons’ player personnel during a period of unprecedented success for the franchise. Two of Dimitroff’s early draft picks, quarterback Matt Ryan (2008) and wide receiver Julio Jones (2011), have become franchise cornerstones.
But the team’s mistakes in the draft and free agency piled up on Dimitroff’s watch, especially in regards to the offensive and defensive lines. Those mistakes were magnified because Dimitroff had fewer draft picks to work with after he traded five picks (two in the first round, one in the second, and two in the fourth) for the right to move up and select Jones in 2011.
The lack of talent eventually caught up with the Falcons. The losing seasons led Blank to fire Smith and reduce Dimitroff’s power in the front office.
“Those are challenging times,” Dimitroff said. “When you are a competitive person, it’s not easy to go through the ups and downs. I think those of us who are raised to get kicked in the shins and get back up, that’s where the competitiveness comes out. It’s tough to go through that and it pushes you to work that much harder and focus that much harder on putting together the (contending) team I think we are putting together right now.”
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