After a tumultuous season, the Falcons’ front office is exhaling.
While his team has several pressing issues, general manager Thomas Dimitroff said the Falcons are waiting until after Super Bowl LIV to address them.
Dimitroff, the entire scouting department and some of the assistant coaches were on hand here this week for the Senior Bowl. The team has to make personnel decisions on tight end Austin Hooper, linebacker De’Vondre Campbell and defensive end/linebacker Vic Beasley before the new NFL business year begins, when they can become unrestricted free agents.
“I don’t know if we can get them all back,” Dimitroff said. “I’m not sure. Again, we are not exactly sure what direction we are going to go with it.”
Dimitroff said the negotiations with Hooper were “trudging along.” Hooper told a reporter from 92.9 The Game at the Pro Bowl that he hasn’t received an offer from the Falcons and that he was preparing for the Pro Bowl as if that would be his last game representing the team.
Talks have started with Campbell, but no decision has been made on Beasley, who was the eighth player selected in the 2015 draft.
“I thought Vic had a nice push down the stretch, and I know that he impressed a lot of people within the organization,” Dimitroff said. “Of course, it was tough early on. We have not made a decision on that at this point.”
The Falcons and offensive line coach Chris Morgan were heavily scouting the offensive linemen at the Senior Bowl. The team also had a keen interest in the pass rushers at the college all-star game.
“That’s what I’ve heard, that the pass-rushing group is not that deep in that (hybrid linebacker/defensive) position,” Dimitroff said. “But I think there are some guys that have surfaced at a couple other places, like the East-West (Shrine Bowl game.) There are always some guys that you can work with that have talent. They may not be the names that everyone is looking for, but they have talent to get up and move around the corner.”
The Falcons currently hold the 16th pick in the draft.
“No one in this league, I don’t think you can operate if you’re not aggressive enough,” Dimitroff said. “We’ll always be open to being aggressive. If we see someone that can help us in that area, which is an area that we’ll continue to look at. I feel good with the interior and moving around. We have to continue to bolster that outside rush.”
After Hooper, Campbell and Beasley, the Falcons have several quality veterans to attempt to retain, including defensive end Adrian Clayborn and fullback Keith Smith, who wants to return.
“We are going to start really after Super Bowl Sunday, we’ll start looking at where we are going in that direction,” Dimitroff said. “There are some people that will be coming available. We’ll have to make some tough decisions.”
Clayborn was one of the Falcons’ most disruptive players.
“AC did a great job for us this year,” Dimitroff said. “We were really happy with how he stepped up and led not only the field, but he led as the type of leader that he is. We’ll have to get Takk (McKinley) healthy. That’s going to be really important.”
McKinley had offseason shoulder surgery.
Also, the Falcons are hopeful that rookie John Cominsky keeps developing.
“We’ll continue to work with some of the younger guys,” Dimitroff said. “Pass rush. Pass rush. Pass rush. I know that’s what Dan wants. I was talking to Dan the other day, and he was talking about corners, and I couldn’t believe it.
“We stopped and I said, I couldn’t believe that you’re talking so much about corners these days. I said, ‘You’ve lost your way, man.’ It’s all about the secondary.”
The Falcons want to improve their pass coverage, too.
“We have some aggressive guys, and we like some of young corners as well,” Dimitroff said. “We have to continue to grow there. If we can hold them on the line a little bit longer and make sure we can get the pass rush up. They work together for sure. We do think in this year’s draft that we can continue to bolster that secondary. We’ll keep an eye on that.”
The Falcons will certainly have some salary-cap casualties this offseason. They could save $3.5 million by cutting running back Devonta Freeman and $1 million by cutting left guard James Carpenter.
“There are some really good backs in those middle rounds,” Dimitroff said. “I’ve always been really strong on that idea. I think it’s important to look and make sure that you find the value at all of the positions.”
The Falcons have drafted a running back in four of the past five drafts.
“I’m never completely opposed to it,” Dimitroff said. “If you have a legit stud at running back and you think it’s worth it for the organization, then I could see someone making a move on that.”
Freeman hasn’t been durable or productive since he signed his contract extension before the 2017 season. Last season, he averaged a career-low 3.6 yards per carry.
“We like where we are right now with our group of running backs,” Dimitroff said. “We’ll see how all of that plays out. The versatility with running backs, toughness and durability is going to be important for us as we move forward with that group.”
The Falcons focused on the offensive line in the first round of the draft last season.
“We’re looking at both sides of the ball,” Dimitroff said. “We’ll just see how it plays out. On both sides of the ball ... we are always looking to bolster that depth (on the lines of scrimmage). I do believe that on both sides there are some really interesting guys.”
After the team completed a 7-9 season after a 1-7 start, Dimitroff is fine with a holding pattern on personnel decisions.
“We’ll just have to see how it all plays out and the moves that we make on the other side of the Super Bowl and adjusting where we are with our salary cap,” Dimitroff said. “We’ll be making some moves, of course. We’ll see how that all plays out and that will determine which direction that we go strong in the draft as well.”
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