For weeks now, we’ve been thinking about the long-term future of the franchise, including what might happen in the years to come to franchise fixtures and stars like Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. While it’s entirely appropriate to wonder what the next regime might do with this roster, it was less sensible to think about the team moving on from either Ryan or Julio at this year’s trade deadline.
That didn’t stop rumors from cropping up, of course, because nothing does. Despite Ryan carrying $75 million in dead money this year and Julio carrying nearly $59 million, some anonymous executives around the league speculated the Falcons might try to do the hard reset on the franchise right now under Rich McKay, despite McKay and Arthur Blank making it clear big decisions would be left to the next general manager and head coach.