The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
McKay returns to key role,
FLOWERY BRANCH — Falcons president Rich McKay, after serving as general manager earlier in his tenure, will take a more prominent role in the team’s football operations.
“Rich has a storied background in football for 25 years,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Friday.
In addition to helping to build the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into a Super Bowl winner, he laid the foundation from some winning Falcons teams before he was replaced as general manager after the tumultuous 2007 season. He was retained to help work on business matters, which included the building of the $1.2 billion Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff, who will be retained for the 2020 season, will report directly to McKay.
“Rich will help be a sounding board, be a source of knowledge, be a source of wisdom, some guidance, etc., to both (Dimitroff ) and (Quinn) going forward,” Blank said.
McKay sees his role as more of a buffer, with decision-making remaining with Dimitroff and Quinn, who have worked together as co-team builders since 2015. Quinn will continue to have final say over the 53-man roster.
“We look at this season, 2019, as not one that we’re going to celebrate for many reasons, but one that we can build on,” McKay said. “I think when you saw the team at 1-7, you didn’t see a team that was playing at a level that was competitive, certainly not at a high level that was competitive. I think what you saw in the second half was a complete change, not one that I’m familiar with. I’ve not really seen that occur in the league in my time.”
McKay, an attorney, has been the long-standing co-chair of the NFL’s powerful competition committee.
“When we looked at this, he wanted to make a decision that was comfortable, what gives us the best chance to win in 2020 and beyond,” McKay said. “That’s where the decision was made.”
McKay will spend more time at the team’s facilities in Flowery Branch.
“But my job will not be to make any decisions,” McKay said. “My job is just to help them, support them and make sure that we do have a structure in which every decision we make has a good rhythm to it and a good purpose — including the salary cap, including player personnel and including coaching.”
Quinn and Dimitroff both said they’ve had a great working relationship with McKay.
“I’m charged with the job of making sure that our processes work and making sure that we’re giving them the support they need,” McKay said.
Quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones take up 26% of the team’s salary cap in 2020. The team would like to re-sign tight end Austin Hooper, and leading tackler De’Vondre Campbell also is set to become a free agent.
However, McKay is not overly concerned about the salary cap.
The Falcons have dumped players as salary-cap casualties in the past, and running back Devonta Freeman and cornerback Desmond Trufant are candidates for dumps or restructures.
“It makes you make hard decisions,” McKay said. “It makes you be very, very certain in what you do — whether it’s in free agency or whether it’s in re-signing or whether it’s in restructuring — but it is all doable. You’re living in a world of a $200 million cap.”