The Falcons’ front office can’t adequately be judged until the 2023 season; after all, Terry Fontenot took over a mess of a salary situation. It was always going to take time to untie the knots that Thomas Dimitroff sewed. However, there are some levels of analysis that can be useful when judging the front office.
One lesser thought about merit would be the demand for members of the actual staff, which seems to be high. According to ESPN’s Michael Rothstein, Atlanta turned down a Buffalo Bills’ request to interview their Vice President of Player Personnel Kyle Smith for the Assistant General Manager spot next to Brandon Beane.
Can confirm the Falcons’ Kyle Smith was the person involved here because he is considered Atlanta’s No. 2 front office person behind GM Terry Fontenot, per a source. https://t.co/rK2KW4SFW3
— Michael Rothstein (@mikerothstein) June 7, 2022
Smith earned his stripes with the Washington Commanders as a longtime scout and eventually a personnel executive but was pushed out after the 2020 season. Terry Fontenot then brought him aboard under the same role he held during his final year in Washington. It might be hard to assess how the front office has been doing, but it is encouraging that successful organizations like the Bills are eager to interview a member of the Falcons staff. As Fontenot’s righthand, Smith was never getting out of the door.
“You talk about passion, man, he has it,” Fontenot told Scott Bair. “He grew up in ball. He’s a good person and he’s a passionate person who is literally obsessed with the process.”
And Smith is as happy as any that he’s in Atlanta.
“The exciting part of coming to Atlanta was the people, the opportunity, the chance to build something new and the challenge of getting things going here,” Smith said. “Evaluating [this opportunity], I thought of one thing: Let’s go.”
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