Why Jimmy Williams missed OTA' S

irish_eyes35 -    you refer to the Chargers as the prime example of doing things correctly in the draft.  

That wasn't always the case for InSane Diego.   One point I hit from time to time is that bad drafts really show their full effects about three or four years down the road, and it also typically takes a few years to realize the full benefits of good drafting.   

The Chargers are a prime example of both.   They consistently traded away their first round picks in the 1990s and usually came away with very little to show for it.   From 1994 through 2000, they only selected one player in the first round.   That player was...  

Ryan Leaf.

The rest of their picks weren't all that much better, and the results of those squandered drafts were every bit as bad as you'd expect.   The Bolts didn't have a single winning season from 1996 through 2003.  

That trade in the 2001 draft marked a turning point, and their higher success rate in drafts since then has paid off.   They've had four consecutive winning seasons, including three trips to the playoffs.

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You mentioned the Falcon free-fall began in 2001 with the one exception of 2004.    I agree that the trade to move up and take Vick was one of two major Jump The Shark moments for the Falcons in this decade.   (The other was Blank's decision to sign Vick to the nine digit contract extension, which destroyed the team's salary cap.  And yes, that was Blank's move.  The team won't be clear of the damage from that one until 2010.)  

What I just can't grasp is why so many people want to blame McKay for all of the team's problems.   I've had e-mails and PMs telling me all about how he paid way too much to sign Warrick Dunn just because he liked Dunn in Tampa, that he should have been fired for the Peerless Price trade, that using a first round pick on TJ Duckett "proves" he doesn't know how to draft, etc.  

People can believe whatever they wish, but messages like those leave me completely bewildered.   Does anyone here hold any of those things against McKay?

...Who did Dmitroff come in to replace???

What exactly is your point here?

...Who did Dmitroff come in to replace???

Thomas Dimitroff assumed only a portion of the duties that Rich McKay held previously. Many of the duties - outside of personnel - McKay continues to hold.

bstind3d, you have a problem with McKay, and that's certainly your right. However, plenty of fact has been presented as to what he has accomplished in Atlanta, and I think his record - overall - is a positive one for the franchise.

Yes, Vick's contract extension really is that much of a big deal.   And the Falcons DID push out as much as they could as far as they possibly could under the terms of the CBA.   The flexibility they bought is the whole problem. 

When he was named to the Pro Bowl in 2004, it triggered a clause in his original contract that required the team to pay him a bonus and jack his salary or lose him to free agency at the end of the season.  The extra bonus and salary would have spiked his 2005 and 2006 cap figures anyway and still left him a free agent after 2006, so Blank chose to lock him up with a long term deal before the end of 2004.

So how bad was the damage?    You mentioned Brady and Manning as comparisons.   Fine, we'll use Brady and Manning...

Tom Brady's cap figures the last three years were $3.4M for 2005, $8.8M for 2006, and $10.8M for 2007.   Peyton Manning's figures were $8.4M, $10M, and $7.7M.   Meanwhile, Vick's figures were $8M in 2005, $13M in 2006, and $7.58M in 2007 even though he didn't play.  (If he hadn't been suspended, his 2007 figure would have been $13.58M.)

Mull that one over -   Vick has cost Atlanta $28.58M against the cap over the last three years.    Without the suspension, his total would have been $34.58M, compared to $23M for Brady and $26.1M for Manning.  

The Falcons have been cap-strapped for years.   Bear in mind that this is a team that had only $2.3 million of available cap space heading into the 2004 season, so it's not like they had piles of extra cash to spare when they did it.  They also had $1.4M of dead money counting against the cap in 2005 and $5.7M in 2006 left over from the signing bonus paid to Peerless Price.  

With Vick's extension, Blank guaranteed the team would continue to be short of cap space until 2010.   Even though he's in jail, Vick still counts $7.5M against the 2008 cap and $7.3M against the 2009 cap.    

The current ruling in the Vick case allows the Falcons&n bsp;to pursue about $3.5 million.  There is no guarantee that they will win it or collect it if they do win.   The ruling was that the rest of the money is off limits and the team can't even go after it in court.  

to me there seems to be a lot of disagreement between Owner, GM, and Coach philosophies over the last 4 or 5 years, which has lead to a lot of parts that just don't fit...

I'm with you there.   Ultimately, Blank called the shots.   I do hold McKay largely to blame for Petrino, but the final decisions to hire Mora, fire Mora, and hire Petrino all rested with Blank.

Fortunately, he has said in interviews that he intends to take a step back and not get involved with the football operations as he has in the past.   I hope he sticks to it and lets Dimitroff do his thing without interference.