- 4 months ago
Joe Patrick speaks about why the retirement of Kaleb McGary shouldn't adjust the Falcons draft plans, the Falcons pivot to Jawaan Taylor showing they weren't blindsided by McGary stepping away, how much more difficult Ian Cunningham's job has been from what he thought he was walking in to, what he can predict about the Falcons upcoming draft, and why the Falcons could find really good value at times in this draft for what they need.
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00:00Caleb McGarry retired last week.
00:01How much does that impact what the Falcons will do next week?
00:06I don't really think it impacts it that much,
00:09but I do think that there is an impact that isn't really kind of being talked
00:12about as much as a lot of the impact, as you say, is about, you know,
00:16the Falcons and what they're kind of geared toward as they go into this draft.
00:21But honestly,
00:21I just felt like they were always going to be looking for a developmental
00:25tackle.
00:25And especially now that they've signed Juwan Taylor to basically replace
00:28Caleb McGarry, it's basically the same situation.
00:31McGarry had one year left on the deal.
00:33It's going to be his last year in Atlanta, most likely.
00:35And it seems like the same will be the case of Juwan Taylor.
00:38And, you know,
00:39you can make the caveat for both that if they were to have it like a great
00:41year, potentially Atlanta could extend them.
00:44But I think that they were always looking towards, you know,
00:47inserting a new tackle basically at that right tackle spot after this year.
00:51And so I don't think it changes from that perspective.
00:53I do think that how it,
00:54how it slightly changes things is that the developmental tackle that they do
01:00select, that does ultimately come in.
01:02I think it positively gives them an opportunity to win the job,
01:08probably not out of training camp,
01:09but maybe eventually over the course of the season,
01:11because you have a bigger question mark there in Juwan Taylor,
01:15as opposed to if it was Caleb McGarry,
01:16I think that he was solidly going to lock down that position.
01:19So I think as far as for development,
01:21I think it's probably a positive for whoever that tackle ends up being,
01:25knowing that there's a great opportunity for,
01:27for him to win that job over the course of time,
01:30even before we get to next year.
01:32So I do think that there's a bit of a dynamic change from that perspective,
01:35but I don't think it changes the strategy of how Ian Cunningham is planning to
01:39build this roster out.
01:40JP,
01:41how long,
01:42how much time do you think he gave the Falcons as far as knowing he's going to
01:45retire?
01:45Cause they signed Juwan's days less than an hour.
01:47So was this something that you thought that the conversations might've been
01:49had months ago?
01:52I don't know about months ago.
01:54Certainly they knew before,
01:56you know,
01:56it was announced.
01:58And you know,
01:59I don't think the timing is all that surprising when it's like basically
02:02time to show up for workouts.
02:04And I remember,
02:05you know,
02:06on infinitesimal,
02:08smaller scale,
02:09like the dread that occurs for me in high school,
02:12when it was like two days were approaching two days were approaching.
02:14And then I literally had friends who were like,
02:16Oh yeah,
02:17I'm actually not playing football this year that they would say like right
02:19before two days,
02:20we're about to start because you know,
02:22they didn't want to go through that.
02:23And maybe it was something similar with Kayla,
02:25with McGarry,
02:26where,
02:26you know,
02:27as,
02:27as the time ticked down and that date of,
02:31you know,
02:31having to report and work out and go through the grind of getting yourself
02:34ready to play grew closer.
02:35He just decided it wasn't worth it.
02:36And I think that there's always a chance of that with players when they're
02:39coming off these long-term injuries,
02:40but I would say Kayla McGarry,
02:42especially because he'd always kind of talked about football kind of being a
02:47means to an end for him to basically get off of the grid.
02:50And I'm sure we'll never hear from ever again.
02:55If his plans are fulfilled as opposed to playing plans,
02:58which was basically to live in the middle of nowhere with his dog.
03:00So if that makes him happy,
03:02you know,
03:02all power,
03:03all power to him.
03:04And,
03:04you know,
03:05the Falcons will keep chugging along here.
03:06No,
03:06I couldn't agree more.
03:08I think when that contract got signed by Kayla McGarry last year,
03:10it was like,
03:11all right,
03:11well start the clock because this now achieves the goal of whatever the dollar
03:16amount he was,
03:17he felt like he needed to disappear and never have to deal with any of the stuff
03:20that he didn't want to have to deal with anymore.
03:23he made $45 million.
03:25So some guys,
03:26some guys are going to retire and go into the media.
03:30Some guys are going to retire and get loud on social.
03:32You're never going to hear from Kayla McGarry again.
03:34You know,
03:35honestly,
03:35while we're talking about Falcons,
03:37offensive linemen who have retired,
03:38it's actually the Drew Dahlman one.
03:40I know it's off topic,
03:41but that's the one that actually caught me a lot more by surprise.
03:43He was a guy who had not signed that big contract yet.
03:46He hadn't really,
03:46well,
03:47I mean,
03:47he did with the bears,
03:48but he hadn't really played through the entirety of it.
03:50So McGarry had already kind of,
03:52had that,
03:52that second year or that second contract after the rookie deal,
03:56which made makes retirement a lot more kind of secure feeling.
03:59I'm sure.
04:00Damn.
04:00That's,
04:00I still,
04:01I still shocks me.
04:02I was like,
04:02damn,
04:03Drew Dahlman did retire.
04:04I know.
04:04After making a row.
04:05There's a lot of money to walk away from.
04:06A lot of both of them.
04:07He played pretty damn good.
04:09It is crazy.
04:09If you think about it,
04:10two years ago,
04:10that was 40% of the Falcons offensive line.
04:13Right.
04:14And they're both young and like in,
04:15in the middle of their careers.
04:16And it's like,
04:17oh yeah,
04:17both of those guys are going to be retired in two years from right now.
04:20And they are.
04:21Yeah.
04:22Yeah.
04:22Hey Joe,
04:22we were talking yesterday about,
04:24you know,
04:24as far as Matt Ryan,
04:26like,
04:26could he have had a,
04:27I won't say Rocky,
04:28but just like,
04:29damn,
04:30what I get myself into off season for a guy who's just coming to this job.
04:33I think Rocky's all right.
04:34Yeah.
04:34Yeah.
04:35Yeah.
04:36I mean,
04:37it wouldn't be the first time for a general manager of a team,
04:41you know,
04:41and the reason I say it is I actually think of a Garth Logger way from,
04:46from Atlanta United,
04:47former president of Atlanta United,
04:48who had spoken about the fact that you don't really get to see all the
04:53details of what's going on in the organization until you actually are
04:56hired.
04:57Like they literally cannot share it with,
04:59it with non-employees.
05:01And then,
05:02you know,
05:03and I know in Garth's case,
05:04it was like seeing the finances of where the team was at.
05:06And it's like,
05:06okay,
05:07this is a,
05:07maybe a bigger chore than we had planned.
05:10And I don't know in Matt's case,
05:12if it's really taking him all that much by surprise necessarily,
05:15because I'm sure,
05:16you know,
05:16he's been through experience so much as a player to seeing kind of the
05:20ups and downs of how an NFL organization goes.
05:23But,
05:23you know,
05:23I'm sure that there are challenges and there were always going to be
05:27these when,
05:28and with any person who's,
05:29you know,
05:30coming into a new role,
05:31there's probably just unknown unknowns.
05:33You know,
05:34there's just things that you don't know about that.
05:37You don't even know that are going to occur that,
05:39that are going to run in that you're going to run into,
05:41and you're going to have to kind of problem solve around.
05:43So,
05:44and I'm sure that,
05:45you know,
05:45a surprise retirement like this could have definitely been one of them
05:47where,
05:48you know,
05:48and,
05:48and for Ian Cunningham,
05:49you don't really kind of know some of these things are going to occur
05:52until it comes to pass.
05:54And so,
05:54yeah,
05:55I mean,
05:55I'm sure this is all very much a learning experience for Matt Ryan,
05:58but I also think that he offers this organization,
06:04a latitude to do the right thing.
06:07I think when they're building this roster and they're taking their time.
06:10And I've been saying like,
06:11they're kind of eating their vegetables,
06:12so to speak,
06:13they're not really pushing it.
06:15Like Terry Fontenot was where he had these pressures on him to make the
06:19playoffs after the team had been out of the playoffs for so long.
06:22It's hard to kind of say,
06:23we're going to take our time on this after you've been out of the playoffs for
06:27eight years now.
06:28But I think having a leader like Matt Ryan affords the organization,
06:31the kind of political capital,
06:34so to speak,
06:35to be able to do not a long-term build,
06:38but I think just one year,
06:39basically it kind of getting your affairs back in order,
06:41getting your finances in a better spot for,
06:43again,
06:44you can start to make moves and what should be a really interesting off season
06:46next year as well.
06:48Now we've seen a little bit of free agency for me in Cunningham.
06:52Now,
06:52obviously got a chance to talk to him a couple of times.
06:55Maybe you can apply some of what the bears have done in their drafts,
06:58when he was in that role in their front office,
07:00but kind of based on what you've learned and heard from Ian Cunningham,
07:04thus far as a GM,
07:06what's a draft prediction that you feel like pretty comfortable making ahead of
07:10next week?
07:13I think,
07:14yeah,
07:14I mean,
07:15I think there's a couple of,
07:15we already talked about one of them.
07:17Like I think a tackle,
07:18you know,
07:18when we talk,
07:19the GMs are always going to say,
07:20it's like best player available.
07:22I don't know any GM out there who's like,
07:24yeah,
07:24we need to have a tackle in this draft class.
07:26Cause you know,
07:27you don't want to ever expose what your strategy is,
07:29but I think pretty clearly for this team,
07:31they're going to be drafting a tackle.
07:32So that's one,
07:33I think as far as like overall strategy,
07:35I think that Ian Cunningham couldn't really be any more clear about his
07:40intention or his want to trade down in this draft.
07:44But he's also kind of caveat at all those indications and statements that
07:49he's made with an attached,
07:51like,
07:51but we're not going to be pushed around and it will be interesting to see if the
07:55Falcons ultimately do trade down or if they don't,
07:58like if they don't,
07:58I think that what we can,
08:00what we'll ultimately understand is that while they wanted to trade down,
08:04they didn't see any offers out there that were good enough for them.
08:07However,
08:08having said that,
08:08I do think I,
08:09if I'm to make a prediction,
08:11I think we will see at least one more trade down in this draft where that
08:16occurs.
08:17I don't know,
08:17but it just seems to me like Ian Cunningham,
08:20this message that he wants to make picks.
08:22It's almost like he honestly is like,
08:24I have fun making drafts.
08:26I think it's a fun part of the job and I want to do it as much as possible.
08:30So I wouldn't even be surprised if they just want to add some more seventh
08:33round picks,
08:33you know,
08:33if they want to like trade down from one of their later round picks,
08:36just to add a pick or two.
08:38I would certainly look out for the Falcons to be doing that when the draft
08:41comes around next week.
08:42So what's your thoughts on this draft?
08:43Because of the simple fact that there's not a lot of quarterbacks that are,
08:45excuse me,
08:46that are going to be first round guys.
08:47What do you think as far as do you think there's going to be,
08:50like you're saying,
08:51trade back,
08:51trade down all those different things,
08:52or you think teams are going to stay put because of the fact there's not a
08:55lot of good quarterbacks?
08:57Well,
08:57it's an interesting one for the Falcons because I feel like,
09:00you know,
09:00there are some positions out there that aren't necessarily like the high
09:04positional value type positions that the Falcons are still going to be very
09:09interested in,
09:10you know,
09:10and I think there are some players there at those positions who are really good.
09:14And I'll just,
09:15you know,
09:15as an example,
09:16I think at the linebacker position,
09:18you've got like off ball linebacker,
09:20you lose Caden Ellis.
09:21That's a pretty big loss.
09:23But I think that there are a couple of guys out there that would do a really
09:27solid job.
09:28I think being able to step in and basically start right away.
09:30If you're looking,
09:31if you're,
09:31if you're looking to invest with like your number 48 pick in that position,
09:36Jacob Rodriguez is a name that has kept cropping up over and over again.
09:40But just generally speaking,
09:41I think this draft,
09:42there are a lot of like interesting positions for the Falcons to fill and find
09:47some like significant contributors,
09:48but they might not be just at those positions that you would generally think
09:52of as like being the key positions that,
09:54that you need to draft.
09:55I think that that's also part of why Ian Cunningham this off season has really
10:00been so committed to building the depth out through NFL veteran prospects in
10:05order to give themselves the ability to go in and get the guys who are going to
10:09be the biggest impact players for them.
10:11Not just this immediate season,
10:13but I think going forward through the rest of their,
10:15the duration of their rookie contracts,
10:17Joe,
10:17great stuff.
10:18Appreciate it.
10:19Appreciate JP.
10:20All right.
10:21Thanks for having me on guys.
10:21Appreciate it.
10:22Smoking Joe Patrick there.
10:2392,
10:23nine,
10:23the game Falcons beat reporter.
10:25He will obviously be a part of our draft coverage on Friday night as we cover the,
10:29the second and third rounds of the NFL draft where the Falcons will select.
10:33Jacob Rodriguez at 48.
10:35I've seen his name there a lot.
10:36Really?
10:36Yeah.
10:37Right around there.
10:38Really?
10:38Actually,
10:38I've seen him getting drafted like right before there a couple of different times,
10:42like the Colts,
10:42like 47.
10:43They don't view him as a first round linebacker?
10:45They don't.
10:45Wow.
10:45And I guess he's like athletically,
10:47there's some limitations.
10:48I don't know.
10:49I watched that guy play.
10:50I watched that guy play.
10:50He looks incredible.
10:52I know.
10:52I never know.
10:53That's why you guys gave me a number yesterday on CJ Allen's workout.
10:57And I was like,
10:57I don't know what,
10:58you know,
10:59what does that mean for him?
11:00And you guys like,
11:00it's really good.
11:01I was like,
11:01all right,
11:01that's good.
11:02I saw him play.
11:03Yeah.
11:03And he's awesome.
11:04Oh,
11:04I didn't realize that.
11:05I thought Rodriguez would be.
11:06He's not viewed as a pass rusher.
11:08Oh.
11:08People are just,
11:09any guy up front that's not a pass rusher,
11:12they just plump them all down.
11:13Right.
11:13If you're not tackling the quarterback,
11:15then you just kind of lose a little bit of value.
11:17But yeah,
11:17I don't know.
11:18I mean,
11:18if he can come in and,
11:19because he could start.
11:20Yes.
11:20He could come in and start at linebacker.
11:22Jacob Rodriguez,
11:23Texas Tech,
11:23like,
11:24if you saw him play last year,
11:25you noticed.
11:26Do you think they brought Christian Harris to start?
11:30I think,
11:31or at least to compete to start.
11:32Yeah.
11:33I think so.
11:34I thought he brought him to start.
11:34Yeah.
11:35Yeah.
11:35Unless you draft a guy,
11:37maybe,
11:37and he plays better.
11:38You know Diablo is one of the guys.
11:39But I think Christian Harris will play a lot.
11:40I think Christian Harris will play a lot.
11:42I'm thinking like.
11:42If he's healthy.
11:43Because I'm like,
11:44was Caden the green dot guy,
11:45or was Diablo?
11:46I think Caden was.
11:46Caden was the green dot.
11:48all right.
11:49And then there's also the guy who I think is going to be an all pro
11:51if he plays 17 games.
11:53That's true.
11:53Yep.
11:53Don't sleep on Troy Anderson.
11:55If he plays 17,
11:55he's going to be an all pro.
11:58One of the greatest bet hedges of all time.
12:00I know,
12:00right?
12:01If he plays 17 games,
12:02it's amazing.
12:03Did he,
12:04even in his healthiest year,
12:05did he play 17 for the Falcons?
12:08I'm wondering if he's played 17 career.
12:10Has he played 17 games yet?
12:12In four seasons for the Falcons.
12:13But he's been good though when he plays.
12:15When he plays.
12:16If you can remember that far back.
12:18Depends on how your memory is.
12:19But he was pretty good when he played.
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