In the blink of an eye this week, the Falcons went from a “sleeper team” in the mix for Deshaun Watson to an apparent finalist before the 26-year-old ultimately wound up with the Browns. The accelerated timeline of the conclusion that came late Friday afternoon didn’t leave much time to answer the question that Jon Chuckery posed this morning on 92.9 The Game; should the Falcons have been in on Watson in the first place?
“What was the idea of pursuing him? The Falcons have no players on their roster,” he said. “It turns out the Browns had to give up three first-rounders plus two more picks to get him and give him a whole pile of money. What were the Falcons going to do? Offer him $200 million guaranteed and crush their cap?”
It was clear from the beginning that in order to meet with Watson, the Texans had to approve at least the framework of a potential trade package. With a starting price of three first-round picks, Chuckery contended that Atlanta was not in the position to offer that amount of draft capital.
“Yes, the Falcons have a lot of draft capital, but they need that draft capital. The Browns don’t need three first-round picks,” Chuckery said explaining that Cleveland’s roster was a quarterback away from unlocking Super Bowl potential.
Nevertheless, the Falcons' public pursuit of the 3x Pro Bowler ended without him on their roster, and it leaves the organization with a bit of a mess to clean up. Chuckery stated his belief that the Falcons wound up with egg on their face, especially when it comes to their current quarterback. While Ian Rapoport reported Friday that the Falcons will try to make Matt Ryan “feel wanted while he considers his options,” Chuckery said the relationship may be beyond repair at this point.
“They have trade Matt now,” he said. “How do you bring Matt Ryan back to this team? How does Matt Ryan stand in front of Arthur Smith, Terry Fontenot, and Arthur Blank and say ‘you guys believe in me?' How do you go in front of your roster and say, ‘hey guys, I’m here to lead you…even though they didn’t want me two weeks ago?'"
In terms of acquiring the next quarterback, Chuckery is vehemently against the idea of tanking for a signal-caller in the 2023 draft. He suggested trading Ryan, moving back in the first round of this year’s draft and selecting a quarterback.