The Falcons have tried to speed up their timeline exactly once in the past two years—at least that we know of—with their disastrous pursuit of Deshaun Watson. That appeared to be an owner-led chase sparked by Arthur Blank, who is tired of owning a football team that loses every season and has trouble putting butts in seats, but after it failed Atlanta settled right back into what they were doing before: Moving deliberately.
Remember where the franchise was after the 2020 season. The Falcons had capped off their third consecutive losing season, had continued to spin a sticky web of cap troubles in an ill-fated run-it-back year with Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff, and had no long-term plan to speak of.