‘One-thousand percent:’ Terry Fontenot believes the Atlanta Falcons will win in 2024
Go Long sits down with the GM who may set NFL free agency into motion. Fontenot details his rise, his conviction and, yes, his QB thoughts over an hour. Pressure is building to win — he welcomes it.
INDIANAPOLIS — This is the look of a man who’ll finally make his quarterback move. He’s grinning, nonstop. He’s speaking with his hands and using props. Terry Fontenot, the general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, plans to make noise. Soon. Unbridled joy inside this Embassy Suites room downtown is a dead giveaway.
Fontenot brews a cup of boiling-hot coffee at the Keurig machine behind him and speaks with a certainty that the Falcons’ best days are imminent. It’s impossible to tell this GM oversaw a team that’s gone 7-10 three straight years. Fifteen minutes were budgeted for this conversation with Go Long and Fontenot ends up speaking for an hour instead.
When he starts dissecting his rise, his revamped coaching staff, his roster, he cannot stop.
His cell phone rings. He ignores it.
At one point, Fontenot rattles off the Falcons’ entire offensive line — left tackle to right tackle. He commences the exercise by balling up a fist and banging the wooden table between us, saying Jake Matthews is this strong, this sturdy. Ass-kicking guard Chris Lindstrom is the “tip of the spear.” Kaleb McGary? He grips the air with both hands, before then dumping an imaginary defender to the ground. Violently. Zoomed-out footage of one game shows Atlanta’s beastly right tackle driving one defensive end to the sideline where, yes, he deposited that end right in front of that foe’s head coach.
It was embarrassing. It was beautiful.
“You don’t see that in high school. That’s pee-wee ball,” Fontenot says. “You see somebody do that and you say, ‘Ah, that kid's too big, let’s put him up a league.’ But he did that to somebody this year.”
Many owners in pro sports put internal caps on how much their GMs can spend in free agency. Arthur Blank is not one of them. The Falcons’ billionaire owner has made it abundantly clear: Go for it. “He’ll spend anything,” Fontenot says. “He’ll do anything.” He picks up the bag of Skittles in front of him.
“If we can tell him, ‘Hey, look, these Skittles cost a million dollars a bag, but if we get these Skittles, we’re going to be able to win a lot this year,’ he’s going to say, ‘Go get a box of Skittles and here’s some money.’”
Of course, quarterback is the proverbial bag of “Skittles” that’s eluded this franchise of late. The Falcons have tried winning with a 36-year-old Matt Ryan, a former No. 2 overall pick on his third team (Marcus Mariota) and a third-rounder they overvalued (Desmond Ridder). The result’s been numbing mediocrity nudging this organization closer and closer toward the dreaded doldrums of irrelevancy. Blank chose to fire Arthur Smith and retain Fontenot which means he trusts Fontenot to finally get this position right. What is Fontenot looking for at the position? “It’s here,” he says pointing to his head. “And it’s here.” He points to his heart.
The coach hired to replace Smith — the equally exuberant Raheem Morris — said the quiet part out loud at his press conference earlier this day. If the Falcons had better QB play, it’s true that Morris would not be the coach.
So, Fontenot leaves no room for doubt.
Find the right QB and, he believes, the 2024 Atlanta Falcons will contend.
“One-thousand percent. One-thousand percent,” the GM repeats. “We’re very confident in that.”
The right triggerman can turn fantasy into reality. Maybe all of his patience paid off — Fontenot has options. He can sign Kirk Cousins or Baker Mayfield. He can trade for Justin Fields or throw a life raft to Russell Wilson. He can draft a prospect at No. 8 overall or work his way up the draft board. This team believes it’s ready to win now. All pressure’s on the man seated here, the 43-year-old with a wife and four kids entering Year 4 as the team’s general manager. Twelve years ago, we coincidentally shared a cab to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for a Packers-Giants regular season game. Fontenot was a pro scout for the New Orleans Saints’ back then and his energy was unforgettable. After many years of scouting under Mickey Loomis and Sean Payton, he earned his own shot to run a team.
Honestly, this GM should now resemble a U.S. president at the end of a term. More weathered. More gray hairs sprouting from the goatee. Disheveled. With pressure rising, anxiety could easily seep in. Swing and miss at quarterback this offseason and he could be ousted himself. Instead, Terry Fontenot projects the same buoyant personality he did in that cab because Fontenot is sure the Falcons will get the quarterback position right. And win.
Back at his office in Atlanta, he also has a daily reminder.
Next to the picture of himself laughing with his son, Kaiden, during the draft is another picture. This one is from the Falcons’ game against the Chicago Bears on Nov. 20, 2022 and supplies gut-wrenching perspective. His father, Roy, is seated in a wheelchair with “the biggest smile on his face.” That smile had a purpose, too. Only Roy knew it at the time, but he was dying. He didn’t want anybody else to know so the entire family could enjoy their last Thanksgiving weekend together.
“He told my Mom not to tell anybody because he wanted everybody to have a good time,” says his son, Terry. “He was the most optimistic person I’ve ever met.”
Dad peacefully passed away on Dec. 28, 2022. Whenever Fontenot starts getting inside of his own head — whenever the job does stress him out — that picture is right by his own coffee machine. He pauses, gazes, snaps out of it.
“When I see him,” Fontenot says, “and I see that and he’s smiling right there, I can find a silver lining.”
It’s now time to find the quarterback.
Heat’s on. This is the biggest football decision of his life.
Go Long is your home for longform journalism in pro football.
To access all profiles, all team deep dives and all 2024 NFL Draft coverage — including Bob McGinn’s 40th annual series — new readers can become a paid subscriber.
We’re completely independent. No ads. No sponsors. No corporate overlords.
‘Servant’s mindset’
He loved football. He wanted to stay in football. The profession of NFL General Manager never entered his mind as the end-all, be-all objective.
He never wrote down specific goals on a sheet of paper, no.
Fontenot, a native of Lake Charles, La., insists he tried to work as hard as he possibly could from high school to college to whatever came next. Once he wrapped up his collegiate football career at Tulane University as a strong safety, he would’ve taken a gig on the Green Wave’s coaching staff. Hell, he would’ve been fine going back to LaGrange High School as a JV defensive coordinator. That fifth year in college, an academic advisor urged Fontenot to interview for a marketing internship with the New Orleans Saints.
“I started doing it,” he says, “and I just worked my ass off.”
People noticed. Specifically, Loomis during a marketing caravan event. He started talking to scouts and soon landed a full-time job as an advance pro scout. For 10 straight minutes, Fontenot talks… and talks… and talks about this role because this period of time built his foundation as a personnel man. If the Saints played the Packers the following week, he needed to compile a full report for both coordinators and get assistants anything they needed. He remembers supplying offensive line coach Doug Marrone a breakdown of the pressures his unit would face. He’d point out that a backup defensive end, for example, hits you with power upon entering the game. But into the fourth quarter? Like clockwork, that end switched to his counter move. Small details add up.
Fontenot treated each assignment as more of an investigation to prep the Saints for their next game. Again, people noticed. The Saints became a perennial NFC contender and those in command knew Fontenot was an integral driving force because, in addition to all of this, he was also the person they consulted for intel on veteran free agents. If a player went down with an injury, he had a street list ready.
Scouts and coaches sincerely worked in unison to drive the Saints one direction.
True synergy that transcended corporate mumbo-jumbo.
“That’s why I don't understand places that have friction with the head coach and the GM,” Fontenot says. “The job is to get coaches everything they need to be successful. That’s it. That’s how I’ve always been wired.”
When Ryan Pace became the Chicago Bears’ GM in 2015, his role expanded. Suddenly, his office was right across from Loomis. He became part of the Saints’ hierarchical “triangle,” in constant communication with the GM and Payton.
Whereas Fontenot worked with assistant coaches before, he now had a direct line to the head coach.
“But again, the mindset doesn’t change,” Fontenot says. “I might be doing some different things — and now I’m managing the staff — but it’s the same thing. Get the head coach and the staff everything they need to be successful on a daily basis. A servant’s mindset. That’s all it’s about. And so that’s the mindset. But there was never a moment where I sat back and said, ‘Man, I really want to be a GM. I’d love to do this.’ It’s just ‘I want to be the best pro director I can be and help this team win.’ That’s it.”
He tried learning from as many people as he possibly could in both worlds. On the coaching staff, there was someone like Curtis Johnson, the Saints’ wide receivers coach who’s now the head coach for the UFL’s Houston Roughnecks. He learned so much about the position from “CJ.” Fontenot even points to “Go Long Show” co-host, Jim Monos. Back in ’06, the Saints weren’t sure what to make of one mauling lineman from D-II Bloomsburg. This behemoth buried fools but Fontenot remembers asking himself if this nerdy kid in the glasses could really translate to the pros. Monos, an area scout, insisted Jahri Evans was legit and the Saints should not overthink such comical dominance. “He gets on the field,” Fontenot says, “and starts beating the shit out of people. You’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, this dude’s going to be a dominant player.’”
The lesson: Trust your eyes. Don’t hyper-analyze. Evans will be in Canton.
Even though he scouted from 2003- ‘20, the chance to become a GM felt lightning-fast. So fast he barely did any prep work. That 2020 season, Fontenot was obsessed with getting the 12-4 Saints ready for a playoff run when his agent, Trace Armstrong, called. The Jaguars, Falcons, Broncos and Lions all put slips in to interview Fontenot for their GM vacancy. Armstrong said he’d pass along packets to review and Fontenot politely told his agent, “I’m not doing any of that shit.” All he cared about was winning a ring. Armstrong informed Fontenot that it doesn’t work this way — he’d need to hit pause on everything Saints to prepare for this GM shot — and Fontenot didn’t budge. He said he wouldn’t be able to look his kids in the eye if he completely re-routed his attention to a different job. This would be like telling Kaiden it’s OK to quit the basketball team halfway through.
He tried his best to balance everything and was 100-percent sold on the Falcons after his first chat with Blank.
Anyone can stack their hands on top of each other — as Fontenot does here — and say life’s about “faith,” then “family,” then “work.” In truth, it’s impossible to rank work third because the NFL naturally eats up so much of your time. Fontenot views his life as more of a circle where everything’s mixed together, “intermingled,” with faith at the center. That’s why Fontenot wanted to work for Blank. The Falcons owner seemed to operate this way in all of his businesses. That’s why Kaiden would soon hang out all the time at Dad’s office in Flowery Branch, Ga. Build a culture of “good players and good people,” Fontenot says, and “that’s when you take off.”
Those 2020 Saints suffered a crushing 30-20 loss to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the playoffs and it got emotional in the family vehicle. There many tears. But when Dad brought up this Falcons opportunity, everything flipped. Everyone was all-in. Fontenot knew he’d become a public figure. No longer was he the anonymous personnel man taking a cab to scout future opponents. His kids would be hearing all about Dad from classmates. This could get ugly.
So, he again told them it’s important to be an “eagle” in life. There will always be “crows” pecking at them in life, he explained.
Said Dad: “You can stoop to their level and get in the mud with ‘em. But you need to fly higher like eagles do and be above it.”
All GMs, all head coaches are justifiably under heavy scrutiny all year long. Not only are constituents pouring their disposable income into their product. They’re also sacrificing their sanity. GMs go from beloved to loathed to beloved to loathed in record time. Fontenot describes his high school sweetheart wife, Tanya, as the “firecracker” and says his daughters are the same way. Fontenot? He’s more laidback when it comes to his job’s inherent pressure.
That pressure, however, is rising.
The exultant “eagle” leading these Falcons can expect a full murder of crows to swarm his direction with more losing. His entire football life has led to this spring.
‘We’re going to get this quarterback position right’
Hope was in high supply on Sept. 17, 2023. That day felt like the organizational turning point, the moment these Atlanta Falcons would do exactly what Terry Fontenot said — “take off.” Because, now, there was tangible proof that their rebellious plan could work. The plan to pay an offensive guard (Lindstrom) $102.5 million over five years, a safety (Jessie Bates) $64 million over four years and to draft a running back eighth overall (Bijan Robinson) on the heels of taking a wide receiver eighth (Drake London) and a tight end fourth (Kyle Pitts).
Atlanta believed it could win with B-minus quarterback play, a decision validated by one of the greatest defensive players of this generation. Calais Campbell believed.
It’s tough to get anyone in SEC Country to devote their hearts and minds to a pro football team. But this day? Mercedes-Benz Stadium felt like a heavy-metal concert as the Falcons erased a 12-point deficit in the fourth quarter to stun the Green Bay Packers, 25-24.
With three jukes on the same Bijan burst… one handoff-pitch-bomb to Mack Hollins on third and 3… one fourth-and-4 TD run by Ridder… and one ballsy decision on fourth and 1 with 2:07 remaining, the vision of this team crystallized. Outside the Falcons locker room, the elated GM celebrated with family. Fontenot held one of his kiddos tightly against his chest with a massive smile on his face. Vindication was clearly right around the corner. Until… poof. These Falcons soon toggled between Ridder and Taylor Heinicke through another lost season.
Bring up that postgame scene to Fontenot and he adds that Atlanta also beat the Houston Texans. Another playoff team. Of course, the Falcons managed to lose to three of the league’s four worst teams (Carolina, Washington, Arizona), as well as the Joshua Dobbs-led Vikings five days after Doubs arrived via S.O.S. trade.
Arthur Smith was fired.
Fontenot was retained.
Blunt meetings with the 81-year-old Blank followed.
“Those conversations are great because if you really want to be in a job like this — this is what you want to do — you better be good with pressure,” Fontenot says. “If you want to be in this role, you’re going to put more pressure on yourself than anyone ever does. You want honesty. You want deliberate, honest, direct. And that’s what our owner is. He’s very direct. And so that’s why I never even get concerned with outside narratives because Arthur Blank is a very direct communicator.”
Blank made it clear Fontenot would be given all resources needed to compete. Now. All owners speak in such manners but this one means it.
Quarterback is obviously Priority No. 1. The GM begins by stating the Falcons absolutely must find the right guy, but he’s also quick to note that they cannot fall into the trap of thinking one player will serve as cure-all “magic.” Fontenot started the offseason by studying this team internally to maximize this roster’s strengths.
That’s why he raves about the O-Line and that McGary block.
The Falcons must continue to add to the line. To everything. Those in power — from Blank to CEO Rich McKay to Fontenot — view this roster as one ready to compete for a championship in the present. The reason is a combination of talent and “make-up.” The GM says nobody outworks London. Or Lindstrom. Or Bates. When the season ended with a thud of disappointment, a 48-17 blowout loss to New Orleans, the veteran safety Bates met with the Falcons’ video coordinator to get film loaded onto his tablet so he could start watching film ASAP. This is the football personality Fontenot promises to find at all positions.
“I believe that the acquisitions we’re going to make,” he says, “we’re going to hit on ‘em. Nothing’s a perfect science. But when you have the right people in the building, the right make-up, we’re going to get the most of everything here and everything that we add. That’s why I have a lot of confidence and conviction on this roster.”
Faith is understandable with simple math. Ridder’s 12 interceptions and seven lost fumbles directly cost the Falcons multiple wins. Tampa Bay won the division at 9-8.
Coordinator Zac Robinson, quarterbacks coach T.J. Yates and senior offensive assistant Ken Zampese bring a new vision to the offense.
“So I have no doubt we’re going to get this quarterback position right,” Fontenot says. “But then I’m also excited because we’re going to keep adding, man. Both sides of the ball. Every level. We’re going to keep adding. We’re going to hit on players. And then I believe we can really take off. So you can point to a lot. You can’t turn the ball over at the rate we did and you can’t do those things at critical moments. We’re going to make sure that we not only get the quarterback position right but we get all those other positions right.”
Blank could’ve easily slammed the reset button on his entire football operation.
The reason he kept Fontenot around is because he obviously views Fontenot as the right point man to find the team’s next quarterback. Arthur Smith steered a Ryan Tannehill-led Tennessee Titans team to the AFC Championship and thought these Falcons could also pour assets into positions around QB. The plan failed. You need a quarterback to win. If any future GMs/coaches start attaching “Yeah, but…” qualifiers to average QBs, all they need to do is replay the 2023 Falcons. Mum is the word now. Jack Bauer would struggle to extract details out of any GMs seeking quarterbacks this time of year.
Fontenot assures the Falcons are analyzing every possible avenue. Be it the draft or free agency, he wants the team’s next starter wired the right way.
To him, that matters more than age or any physical attribute. Spending so much time around future Hall of Famer Drew Brees helps.
“You better hit on the makeup,” Fontenot says, “make sure it’s the right kind of person. And then make sure you surround him with the right people and you can truly carry out that vision. So that’s where it's going to start. But again, the exciting part is there are a lot of good options. Because there’s some offseasons where there’s just not. It’s just the truth.
“With Drew, it was about who he was. The make-up. And that’s where we really have to do everything to hit on that part. Drew was the right leader, whether he was a free agent or whether he’d have been a trade or whether he’d have been drafted, he was the right leader. And so that’s what we have to focus on, making sure we’re getting the right leader, whether he’s young, old, or right in the middle.”
When Morris said that the Falcons are trying to find a quarterback who’s the right fit for the city, dots were connected to Fields. The Bears QB is from Kennesaw, Ga., 27 miles northwest of Atlanta. But it’s also true that Fontenot was the GM when Atlanta passed on Fields for the Florida tight end Pitts. So… what changed? And it’s also true that Fields’ game is likely a square peg in a round hole with Robinson, who was Sean McVay’s OC with the Los Angeles Rams. Quarterbacks in this offense must make quick, bold decisions and throw in-rhythm. A style of play that Fields very publicly admitted he did not enjoy in Chicago. (“F it,” he said in September.)
Which leads us to Kirk Cousins, who has excelled under Kevin O’Connell the last 1 /2 seasons in Minnesota… the same O’Connell that Robinson replaced in L.A.
The schematic transition could be seamless for Cousins in Atlanta, and that’s something he’ll care deeply about. When we chatted ahead of the 2022 season, Cousins lamented the fact that he was on his seventh playcaller in seven years. Familiarity for himself and for his family could keep him in Minnesota. But given Blank’s green light — and the desperation to win — the Falcons will likely offer more money.
Cousins gives the Falcons the best chance to win now.
Cousins has also been a man of business his entire career, earning a whopping $231,669,486.
A moribund team like the Washington Commanders, with $96M in cap space, could hand Cousins a virtual blank check. But he’ll turn 36 years old in August. A large part of the QB’s brain must want to compete, thus Atlanta is an appealing happy medium. Cousins can talk himself into chasing a Super Bowl with the Falcons the same way Matthew Stafford did with the Rams. Maybe this is his seminal moment. Maybe Fontenot even goes Full Les Snead and starts dealing draft picks for players to hoist the Lombardi.
By all accounts, Cousins’ recovery from a torn Achilles is going great. He posted two videos of himself dropping back for passes on a tennis court. He was never a QB who relied on athleticism. As for his “make-up?” This is a veteran who’s experienced all the sport has to offer since the Washington Redskins took him 102nd overall in 2012. He hardly flinches, instead taking his shirt off to put a gold chain around his neck.
Of course, the Falcons could also view such an all-in signing as their collective tires spinning in the mud. Inking Russell Wilson on the cheap and then looking to the draft is feasible. This is a team that hasn’t taken a quarterback in the first two rounds since Matt Ryan in ‘08. Before this, the Falcons hadn’t drafted a QB that high since Michael Vick in ‘01. Perhaps they get their man at eighth overall. J.J. McCarthy? Bo Nix? Perhaps they hurl themselves into the top three for Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye.
Fontenot is right. He has many choices.
He’s been thinking about it 24/7, too.
‘My calling’
This state of mind is inescapable. When he’s not trying to build a football team, Terry Fontenot is usually thinking about building a football team.
His 12-year-old son grills him daily. After long days at the office with Morris, he’ll often end up FaceTiming with the head coach when he’s back home with his family. His wife will hear him talking and bemoan, “Damn, y’all were just with each other!?” The answer is yes, but Fontenot cannot turn it off.
Again, he makes the distinction. Fontenot has never specifically planned this career, nor is he planning for anything ahead.
“It was never about that. And it’s never been about keeping my job,” Fontenot says. “As soon as I ever start thinking about something like that, I’m toast. You have to have passion and real drive. And the same thing with the coach. As soon as the coach starts worrying about that? No. So I believe this is my passion for people, for bringing together the right people and getting all the right pieces together and….”
He loudly smacks his hands together.
“…taking off and winning a lot of championships. I believe this is my calling.”
It’s not only Morris he FaceTimes “at all hours.” Fontenot talks to his assistant GM, Kyle Smith, ‘round the clock. He describes the son of ex-Chargers GM A.J. Smith as the ultimate football lifer. You can’t talk about dance parties with your toddlers in the basement with Smith because Smith is a man who only scouts and golfs. “And 99 percent of it,” Fontenot adds, “is scouting.” It’s common for Smith to put together clips of a player at 11 p.m. and ask Fontenot to take a look. “He’s always thinking about it,” the GM adds.
His point is obvious. Fontenot wants people to know the future of the Falcons is in good hands. He’s deriving all of this energy from his entire personnel and coaching staffs. Right to Danny Leskins in analytics.
March is a lovely time on the NFL calendar. Everyone’s undefeated. But Fontenot is particularly resolute.
To him, the best part of the job is the hunt.
“I don’t get exhausted. I legit love what I do,” Fontenot says. “I legit have a real passion for it. I’m never going to get tired of getting those constant phone calls or closing the door and watching tape for hours and hours and bringing in the right guys. It’s an excitement. I’m always going to be excited to sit down and talk to the owner about our plan and sit down and talk to the head coach and the staff to devise the plan and sit down and go through the stack of players with Kyle. That’s never going to get old. Spending time with the players and these guys. And when you see ‘em, man, really good dudes and they’re hungry and they’re there working and constant, that gives me energy.
“I really feel like that’s what I’m supposed to do. So, it has never one day felt like a job.”
Hands moving rapidly — his eyes locked into your eyes — Fontenot looks like a man prepared to run through the nearest wall. On zero sleep. But don’t worry, he does manage to get a few hours of Z’s in… hard as that gets sometimes. His kids are now 14, 12, seven and three years old. The two youngest have hit a point where they don’t like sleeping alone, either. They want Dad and, no, Dad is not putting up a fight. Not with the memories of his own father fresh.
Roy Fontenot worked 54 years as an operator at the Firestone Polymers factory in Lake Charles. Son can still remember Dad leaving for those 16-hour days. Nomex suit, hard hat, lunch pail ‘n all. Somehow, Roy still found a way to be at his football practices and games. A young Terry soon realized there were many nights his father barely slept. (“Because how does he? If he’s working graveyard shifts.”) And just like his daughters, Terry didn’t want to sleep alone many nights. That’s when Roy — a “yoked up,” muscle-bound “stud” built like Apollo Creed — had no problem hanging off half the bed to give his son comfort.
Maybe he just watched film of quarterbacks until his eyes glazed over.
Today, Terry Fontenot doesn’t think twice.
“Dude, it ain’t close. Because I think of that,” Fontenot says. “He was making a lot less money. But man, he had that mindset that he’s going to do everything he can do for his family and he’s going to do everything he could do work-wise. So those things put it in perspective. Sometimes you get seven hours. Sometimes you get four. It doesn’t matter.”
He’s officially in the middle of the NFL inferno. These 2024 Falcons could catapult into contention or burn into embers — it’s all up to him. However this plays out, he refuses to surrender to stress. All Fontenot ever needs to do is look at that picture of his father. A larger-than-life presence in his life.
“The man he was, I draw so much from him, the work ethic, the blue collar. … He was going to find the positive in any situation.”
He’s got to run now. Prospects will be working out in Indy soon.
Jokingly finish up this interview by saying, “So, Kirk Cousins it is,” and Fontenot laughs hysterically before asking directly what you think he should do. I say that Cousins makes the most sense if he intends to win immediately and Fontenot nods without saying a word.
He exits this room, walks onto the elevator and prepares for more meetings.
The NFL is in his hands now.
Great interview. The intensity of everyone in NFL is wild to me. It's an industry where being a workaholic (and being proud of that fact) seems to be an absolute minimum requirement. Great to see Fontenot trying to balance family life too but man it must be tough to actually give the kids quality time when working those hours!