Falcons president Rich McKay, after serving as general manager earlier in his tenure, will take on a more prominent role in the team’s football operations.
“Rich has a storied background in football for 25 years,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Friday.
In addition to helping to build the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into a Super Bowl winner, he laid the foundation for some winning Falcons teams before he was replaced as general manager after the tumultuous 2007 season. He was retained to help work on business matters, which included the building of the $1.2 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff, who will be retained for the 2020 season, will report directly to McKay.
“Rich will help be a sounding board, be a source of knowledge, be a source of wisdom, some guidance, etc., to both (Dimitroff) and (Quinn) going forward,” Blank said.
McKay sees his role as more of a buffer, with decision-making remaining with Dimitroff and Quinn, who have worked together as co-team builders since 2015. Quinn will continue to have final say over the 53-man roster.
“We look at this season, 2019, as not one that we’re going to celebrate for many reasons, but one that we can build on,” McKay said. “I think when you saw the team at 1-7, you didn’t see a team that was playing at a level that was competitive, certainly not at a high level that was competitive. I think what you saw in the second half was a complete change, not one that I’m familiar with. I've not really seen that occur in the league in my time.”
McKay, an attorney, has been the long-standing co-chair of the NFL’s powerful competition committee.
“When we looked at this, he wanted to make a decision that was comfortable, what gives us the best chance to win in 2020 and beyond,” McKay said. “That's where the decision was made.”
McKay will spend more time at the team’s facilities in Flowery Branch.
“But my job will not be to make any decisions,” McKay said. “My job is just to help them, support them and make sure that we do have a structure in which every decision we make has a good rhythm to it and a good purpose – including the salary cap, including player personnel and including coaching.”
Quinn and Dimitroff both said they’ve had a great working relationship with McKay.
“I'm charged with the job of making sure that our processes work and making sure that we’re giving them the support they need,” McKay said. “I feel like with what we did this year, one of the things I would say about change (with the firing of three coordinators)… I think the continuity will definitely serve its purpose for us.”
Quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones take up 26% of the team’s salary cap. The team would like to re-sign tight end Austin Hooper, and leading tackler De’Vondre Campbell also is set to become a free agent.
However, McKay and Dimitroff are not concerned about the salary cap.
“I am not overly concerned about the salary-cap situation,” McKay said. “I have lived in the salary cap since 1993. I remember a time when we used to not be able to sign practice-squad players because we couldn’t afford the cap hit of $20,000 to sign them, so I’ve seen the tight cap.”
The Falcons have dumped players as salary-cap casualties in the past, and running back Devonta Freeman and cornerback Desmond Trufant are candidates for dumps or re-structures.
“It makes you make hard decisions,” McKay said. “It makes you be very, very certain in what you do – whether it’s in free agency or whether it’s in re-signing or whether it’s in re-structuring – but it is all doable. You’re living in a world of a $200 million cap.”
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