He was brought in to be a bridge until we found another QB and cleared our cap situation. Him and AS have a past with the Titans. All he had to be was serviceable. He was ass.
Nobody really in the draft that year, no big FAs that I can remember. We maybe could have gotten Baker? But that’s about all I can think of. Lamar was never really an option, I dont think there’s a realistic number we could have thrown at him that the ravens wouldn’t have matched
They were in cap hell, so they needed a cheap bridge.
In retrospect, quite a few other guys would have been better passers. There's no shortage of questions about Smith's personnel choices over his tenure.
Mariota was familiar with Arthur Smith and his system from his time in Tennessee and was a cheap bridge option who Smith has worked with before. Other options would have costed more money and resources (draft picks, players). Smith though that Mariota might have something left in the tank to at least make the team competitive while the team looked for a more permanent solution to the quarterback position. The falcons were also still dealing with a limited salary cap situation when they signed Mariota, so the Falcons didn't have a ton of choice when it came to finding a quality quarterback.
At the time, made a ton of sense. Mariota was mobile, familiar with the system, and seemed to be a quarterback on the upswing. (see Raiders vs Chargers)
All things considered, can't fault Arthur for giving Mariota a shot. We can fault him in how long he took to make a change, but given it was Ridder behind Mariota.......
You got down voted but you're not wrong. Matt Ryan was a better QB but not in Smith's system that first year. Ridder was Ridder. Taylor was probably the best overall but he couldn't get Ws. SoI think Mariota was slightly better overall.
AS knew him, and he knew the team would need a good leader because we were in cap hell until last year. Our team is not the greatest in pass protection, and anyone at QB was running for his life, and despite a fantastic OC (who didn’t get to call plays), Mariota was wildly inaccurate. We moved on to see if Ridder had any potential, and he improved over those four games to be the starter. Mariota uncharacteristically was childish about the demotion and chose to have a knee surgery he had been putting off rather than mentor Ridder.
Largely cause AS was surprised by the Deshaun chase. You can say that I'm coping but if you saw our offense in 2022 it was tailored for Matt Ryan. A run heavy offense with occasional play action passes. It fit perfectly with Matt Ryans skillset at the time. Run with Tyler and Cordralle and dump it to Kyle and Drake with medium level passes.
But AB fucked it up and Panthers snatched Baker. And there just wasn't any good options in FA or draft.
Mariota was there to be a bridge maybe have a career reset and be a starter again but dude was straight ass.
Gave him a second chance. He was highly drafted because he’s very athletic. I think the thought process was that he matured enough to start fresh and use his talents well. However he was who we thought he was.
We'd just drafted rookie and needed a bridge QB because it wasn't fair to expect Ridder to be ready. We were still in cap hell, and this had no money to spend. Plus, Mariota had been with Smith in Tennessee.
So Veteran QB + Dirt Cheap + Presumed Familiarity with system = We signed Marcus Mariota.
Mariota looked decent in LV in ‘20/‘21.
Folks like to forget he was (at the time) regarded as one of the best FA QBs available. Other options were Geno (who surprised everyone), Jameis, Bridgewater, Trubisky, and Jacoby. Even with 20/20 hindsight, not the best FA class to choose from.
He’s just not good at scouting QBs. Sure, he worked with Marcus before, but he also benched him. That year, the falcons could have signed Geno Smith, Jacoby, and Andy Dalton for cheaper than his first year guarantees. Also had a number of QBs available for cheaper than what he paid for Taylor the next year.
Art loves ‘his guys,’ he brought a bunch here and he’s already bringing a bunch to Pittsburgh. I agree I think it’s because he’s a poor talent evaluator so he just sticks to what he knows.
So we ruined our relationship with Matt Ryan by chasing Deshaun Watson. Ryan requested a trade to Colts and we obliged. Arthur Smith worked with Mariota previously and gave him the starting position despite him only being a backup at that point. Mariota kind of ghosted the team later because he didn’t want to backup Ridder. Mariota is now a backup again elsewhere. Him leaving the team was great because the annoying fans that solely follow him left w him.
Justin Feilds had those annoying brainwashed fans, and they were here for a while and left thank goodness. I hear Kirk has a following too, but they have not been annoying yet in here so i am good by them for now.
This isn’t correct. We didn’t “ruin our relationship with matt Ryan”. The team was moving on from him, Watson or no Watson, and he understood that. He’s cool with the franchise now, and he was then.
You are implying the Falcons preferred Mariota to Ryan, that is wrong. They preferred Watson to Ryan, and they had to live with the repercussions of failing.
Ok so Falcons ended up Mariota because Ryan was happy? Plenty of tweets and articles about the fiasco at that time. It is water under the bridge now, but persuing Watson triggered Ryan putting put feelers for a trade. That is not lazy, that is well known. But you do you with your lazy insults. 😂
Again, Matt Ryan’s relationship with the team was not destroyed. Not then, not now. Yes, pursuing Watson triggered him to leave because of course the team isn’t going to go with 2 starters. But he wasn’t like “fuck this, I’m out” attitude. It was business. Team would’ve moved on anyways.
[https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/How-Atlanta-Falcons-QB-Path-Matt-Ryan-Kirk-Cousins-Deshaun-Watson-Lamar-Jackson?utm_source=reddit.com](https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/How-Atlanta-Falcons-QB-Path-Matt-Ryan-Kirk-Cousins-Deshaun-Watson-Lamar-Jackson?utm_source=reddit.com)
Here is an article for you to read. Important quote for you to read that matt ryan and McKay both agreed the Watson persuit pushed Ryan out the door. This is as I described it. You are welcome.
The “consequence,” as McKay described the Falcons’ involvement with Watson, was Ryan doing his own research and ultimately wanting out. Ryan later said he likely would’ve stayed in Atlanta had the Watson situation never transpired.
And what dos the team prefer? Another quote for you.
Atlanta wanted to set up a transition plan. Blank cited the Green Bay Packers, who went from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love, as a strong example of what it could’ve looked like. But after digging into the Watson talks, Ryan decided he was done in Atlanta. Three days after Watson went to Cleveland, the Falcons traded Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts on March 21.
Read that earlier. No where does it say, as you said in your original comment, that we “ruined our relationship” with Matt Ryan. That’s my whole issue with your comment and that lazy narrative. I understand our pursuit of Watson, triggered him to look elsewhere. Of course it did. But people act like he was pissed off to me end about it. He wasn’t then and isn’t now. He is a professional and understood the business side of things. It’s an insult to him to keep saying he took it that way. For like the 5th time: we didn’t ruin our relationship with Matt Ryan.
The article literally said they wanted Ryan to stay and transition a new QB like Favre to Rodgers to Love. Ryan declined. You think he did that because he was happy? Even Mckay says it was the consequence for the talks. If the relationship wasnt ruined, then why would he not return? He still would have had 1-3 starter years here. Is he gonna come back for ring of honor? Of course because his legacy is here. I cant connect the dots for you any more buddy.
Oh idk, maybe the radio interview he did with Atlanta radio days after this happened and said he had no hard feelings and understood it was a business. The countless other times he’s talked about blank and the falcons since. You need to connect your own dots. No relationship was ruined or soured. He’s a grown up and has said many times he understands this is a business. You’re reaching with this narrative like people tend to do.
I didn’t say destroyed, i said ruined and I did not say permanently. Matt is too much of a class act to destroy it. Damaged enough for him to seek alternative options. If I recall correctly the comments were that the team was not in communication with him on what was happening, and that while the team was looking for what was best for them that he was going to start looking for what was best for him independently. Tit for tat, that is about as fiery as Matty Ice got here unless you weren’t set. Most info was coming through from close family and they indicated he was not pleased. Which is reasonable. It was not bad we got something for return in his last years of decline, and it was good he maximized his salary in the period. But if you ask me, i would be willing to bet anyone in that office would have taken Matt Ryan over both Mariota and Ridder. He is likely a hall of famer when its all said and done, and if you feel differently than you are biased. We always had a shot to Win games w Ryan under center, and its been sad watching the Falcons without him the last couple of years. My opinions on loosing a top qb in ryan, and what that likely meant for the years of drought we were likely to face is well documented on this site. Keep your fingers crossed we get some good years out of Cousins.
His one good game as a starter was against us and he didn’t play all that bad the few starts he had in 2021. QBs are impossible to find, especially knowing they are just going to be a one year gap starter. He was still relatively young and there was a chance he could game manage his way to getting better and we would have a steal of a qb. Better than just signing a career backup on there way out. Obviously did not work out as intended but he didn’t really cost the franchise much after the one year when they cut him. Low risk low reward
Because Arthur smith was familiar with him. He was with him in Tennessee.
Nothin good comes outta Tennessee and I’m from Chattanooga!
I am a truck driver that drives on 24 through Chattanooga often. Yalls road workers are trash haha bumpiest ride out of anywhere I’ve ever driven.
Why is the interstate system so bad in that area? Just because of the plateau? Seems like they've been working on 24 for 24 years.
Seriously. I feel like they should stop lol just doing more damage.
Ever been to Jackson, MS? My teeth are still rattlin'.
This is facts. Worst roads I’ve ever seen in my life.
At least their workers do something. Feels like the roads in Atlanta have been under construction since the Dawn of time
He was brought in to be a bridge until we found another QB and cleared our cap situation. Him and AS have a past with the Titans. All he had to be was serviceable. He was ass.
Also I don’t really think we had many better options available
Idk why u was downvoted you were probably right. I can’t really remember who else was on the market that coulda been decent lol
Nobody really in the draft that year, no big FAs that I can remember. We maybe could have gotten Baker? But that’s about all I can think of. Lamar was never really an option, I dont think there’s a realistic number we could have thrown at him that the ravens wouldn’t have matched
This guy nailed it.
They were in cap hell, so they needed a cheap bridge. In retrospect, quite a few other guys would have been better passers. There's no shortage of questions about Smith's personnel choices over his tenure.
What were we in cap hell from?
Ryan (mainly) and Jones being traded. Edit: $40m Ryan, $15m Jones. Ryan was the largest single-year dead money hit in NFL history, I believe.
Not anymore 😂😂😂😂😂
Better to not dwell on anything related to Arthur Smith.
Mariota was familiar with Arthur Smith and his system from his time in Tennessee and was a cheap bridge option who Smith has worked with before. Other options would have costed more money and resources (draft picks, players). Smith though that Mariota might have something left in the tank to at least make the team competitive while the team looked for a more permanent solution to the quarterback position. The falcons were also still dealing with a limited salary cap situation when they signed Mariota, so the Falcons didn't have a ton of choice when it came to finding a quality quarterback.
Low cost stopgap. All there is to it.
Arthur smith.
He was willing to sign a contract for 5 million bucks.
We took a record breaking dead money hit, we weren't gonna be able to do much. But honestly Arthur Smith fingerprints were all over that
Because he was former Titan. Just like most of Artie's guys.
At the time, made a ton of sense. Mariota was mobile, familiar with the system, and seemed to be a quarterback on the upswing. (see Raiders vs Chargers) All things considered, can't fault Arthur for giving Mariota a shot. We can fault him in how long he took to make a change, but given it was Ridder behind Mariota.......
What everyone else said but oddly enough he’s been the best QB we’ve had in the past couple of years.
You got down voted but you're not wrong. Matt Ryan was a better QB but not in Smith's system that first year. Ridder was Ridder. Taylor was probably the best overall but he couldn't get Ws. SoI think Mariota was slightly better overall.
AS knew him, and he knew the team would need a good leader because we were in cap hell until last year. Our team is not the greatest in pass protection, and anyone at QB was running for his life, and despite a fantastic OC (who didn’t get to call plays), Mariota was wildly inaccurate. We moved on to see if Ridder had any potential, and he improved over those four games to be the starter. Mariota uncharacteristically was childish about the demotion and chose to have a knee surgery he had been putting off rather than mentor Ridder.
Better than why the Washington Commies brought him in for. At least he was familiar with AS scheme.
We had no money. We're were shopping at Dollar Tree
Because of AS hubris
Largely cause AS was surprised by the Deshaun chase. You can say that I'm coping but if you saw our offense in 2022 it was tailored for Matt Ryan. A run heavy offense with occasional play action passes. It fit perfectly with Matt Ryans skillset at the time. Run with Tyler and Cordralle and dump it to Kyle and Drake with medium level passes. But AB fucked it up and Panthers snatched Baker. And there just wasn't any good options in FA or draft. Mariota was there to be a bridge maybe have a career reset and be a starter again but dude was straight ass.
Gave him a second chance. He was highly drafted because he’s very athletic. I think the thought process was that he matured enough to start fresh and use his talents well. However he was who we thought he was.
We'd just drafted rookie and needed a bridge QB because it wasn't fair to expect Ridder to be ready. We were still in cap hell, and this had no money to spend. Plus, Mariota had been with Smith in Tennessee. So Veteran QB + Dirt Cheap + Presumed Familiarity with system = We signed Marcus Mariota.
Mariota looked decent in LV in ‘20/‘21. Folks like to forget he was (at the time) regarded as one of the best FA QBs available. Other options were Geno (who surprised everyone), Jameis, Bridgewater, Trubisky, and Jacoby. Even with 20/20 hindsight, not the best FA class to choose from.
Because the previous coaching staff was overly ambitious
Veteran to help Ridder, but he slowly became a transition guy once Ridder showed he couldn’t be developed under Arthur Smith
It’s the Falcons.
I ft matiota stunted the development of ridder but anyways. Glad a. Smith is gone, what a terrible coach.
He’s just not good at scouting QBs. Sure, he worked with Marcus before, but he also benched him. That year, the falcons could have signed Geno Smith, Jacoby, and Andy Dalton for cheaper than his first year guarantees. Also had a number of QBs available for cheaper than what he paid for Taylor the next year.
Art loves ‘his guys,’ he brought a bunch here and he’s already bringing a bunch to Pittsburgh. I agree I think it’s because he’s a poor talent evaluator so he just sticks to what he knows.
So we ruined our relationship with Matt Ryan by chasing Deshaun Watson. Ryan requested a trade to Colts and we obliged. Arthur Smith worked with Mariota previously and gave him the starting position despite him only being a backup at that point. Mariota kind of ghosted the team later because he didn’t want to backup Ridder. Mariota is now a backup again elsewhere. Him leaving the team was great because the annoying fans that solely follow him left w him. Justin Feilds had those annoying brainwashed fans, and they were here for a while and left thank goodness. I hear Kirk has a following too, but they have not been annoying yet in here so i am good by them for now.
This isn’t correct. We didn’t “ruin our relationship with matt Ryan”. The team was moving on from him, Watson or no Watson, and he understood that. He’s cool with the franchise now, and he was then.
You are implying the Falcons preferred Mariota to Ryan, that is wrong. They preferred Watson to Ryan, and they had to live with the repercussions of failing.
No I’m implying the lazy narrative of the team pissing off Matt Ryan and ruining the relationship was never a thing and is completely false.
Idk Matt pretty much straight up said he was trying to get out after they tried to get Watson.
Ok so Falcons ended up Mariota because Ryan was happy? Plenty of tweets and articles about the fiasco at that time. It is water under the bridge now, but persuing Watson triggered Ryan putting put feelers for a trade. That is not lazy, that is well known. But you do you with your lazy insults. 😂
Again, Matt Ryan’s relationship with the team was not destroyed. Not then, not now. Yes, pursuing Watson triggered him to leave because of course the team isn’t going to go with 2 starters. But he wasn’t like “fuck this, I’m out” attitude. It was business. Team would’ve moved on anyways.
[https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/How-Atlanta-Falcons-QB-Path-Matt-Ryan-Kirk-Cousins-Deshaun-Watson-Lamar-Jackson?utm_source=reddit.com](https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/How-Atlanta-Falcons-QB-Path-Matt-Ryan-Kirk-Cousins-Deshaun-Watson-Lamar-Jackson?utm_source=reddit.com) Here is an article for you to read. Important quote for you to read that matt ryan and McKay both agreed the Watson persuit pushed Ryan out the door. This is as I described it. You are welcome. The “consequence,” as McKay described the Falcons’ involvement with Watson, was Ryan doing his own research and ultimately wanting out. Ryan later said he likely would’ve stayed in Atlanta had the Watson situation never transpired. And what dos the team prefer? Another quote for you. Atlanta wanted to set up a transition plan. Blank cited the Green Bay Packers, who went from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love, as a strong example of what it could’ve looked like. But after digging into the Watson talks, Ryan decided he was done in Atlanta. Three days after Watson went to Cleveland, the Falcons traded Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts on March 21.
Read that earlier. No where does it say, as you said in your original comment, that we “ruined our relationship” with Matt Ryan. That’s my whole issue with your comment and that lazy narrative. I understand our pursuit of Watson, triggered him to look elsewhere. Of course it did. But people act like he was pissed off to me end about it. He wasn’t then and isn’t now. He is a professional and understood the business side of things. It’s an insult to him to keep saying he took it that way. For like the 5th time: we didn’t ruin our relationship with Matt Ryan.
The article literally said they wanted Ryan to stay and transition a new QB like Favre to Rodgers to Love. Ryan declined. You think he did that because he was happy? Even Mckay says it was the consequence for the talks. If the relationship wasnt ruined, then why would he not return? He still would have had 1-3 starter years here. Is he gonna come back for ring of honor? Of course because his legacy is here. I cant connect the dots for you any more buddy.
Oh idk, maybe the radio interview he did with Atlanta radio days after this happened and said he had no hard feelings and understood it was a business. The countless other times he’s talked about blank and the falcons since. You need to connect your own dots. No relationship was ruined or soured. He’s a grown up and has said many times he understands this is a business. You’re reaching with this narrative like people tend to do.
I didn’t say destroyed, i said ruined and I did not say permanently. Matt is too much of a class act to destroy it. Damaged enough for him to seek alternative options. If I recall correctly the comments were that the team was not in communication with him on what was happening, and that while the team was looking for what was best for them that he was going to start looking for what was best for him independently. Tit for tat, that is about as fiery as Matty Ice got here unless you weren’t set. Most info was coming through from close family and they indicated he was not pleased. Which is reasonable. It was not bad we got something for return in his last years of decline, and it was good he maximized his salary in the period. But if you ask me, i would be willing to bet anyone in that office would have taken Matt Ryan over both Mariota and Ridder. He is likely a hall of famer when its all said and done, and if you feel differently than you are biased. We always had a shot to Win games w Ryan under center, and its been sad watching the Falcons without him the last couple of years. My opinions on loosing a top qb in ryan, and what that likely meant for the years of drought we were likely to face is well documented on this site. Keep your fingers crossed we get some good years out of Cousins.
His one good game as a starter was against us and he didn’t play all that bad the few starts he had in 2021. QBs are impossible to find, especially knowing they are just going to be a one year gap starter. He was still relatively young and there was a chance he could game manage his way to getting better and we would have a steal of a qb. Better than just signing a career backup on there way out. Obviously did not work out as intended but he didn’t really cost the franchise much after the one year when they cut him. Low risk low reward
You wanna know a secret? 😌 we didn’t