The Atlanta Falcons made sweeping changes to their coaching staff and front office at the start of the 2026 NFL offseason. The team brought in former quarterback Matt Ryan to be the primary football executive, later hiring Kevin Stefanski as head coach and Ian Cunningham as general manager.

Despite these changes at the top, the Falcons roster will be largely the same in 2026 due to the team’s lack of resources. Atlanta has no first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and with almost no salary cap space, the team was limited in free agency.

The Falcons signed a handful of veterans to one-year deals, and while it’s hard to criticize these additions considering the lack of cap space, it’s also fair to question whether this roster has improved or not from last season.

Those around the league don’t seem to be overly impressed with Atlanta’s offseason thus far. A new article from The Athletic’s Mike Sando provided some insight into what other NFL executives thought of the Falcons’ free agency class.

“There is nothing about what they have done that I can say, ‘That makes sense,’” one NFL exec told Sando.

So, what exactly did these three anonymous NFL front office members have such a problem with? Based on the quotes, it comes down to the team’s perceived lack of vision for 2026. The Falcons don’t seem to be trying to win this season, nor do they seem to be in full-rebuild mode.

One NFL exec praised the Tua Tagovailoa signing, but couldn’t understand the team’s overall plan.

“For the price, you can’t hate on that,” another exec told Sando. “But overall, it seems like they swapped out guys for guys. They have some talent, but they are not in win-now mode. They are not in tank mode, either. They seem very net neutral.”

Another exec questioned the team’s decision to sign kicker Nick Folk and punter Jake Bailey to multi-year contracts, while letting star linebacker Kaden Elliss sign with the New Orleans Saints for a three-year, $33 million deal.

“Why are you doing these deals?” a third exec questioned. “If you are going to pay these guys, why wouldn’t you pay to keep Kaden Elliss? He is 30 years old, but a good player coming off one of his best years. Played like 100 percent of the snaps (99.9 percent), can play multiple spots, can rush, play off the ball. It’s crazy.”

Those are undoubtedly some harsh words, however, the fact that the quotes are anonymous makes them feel more like pettiness than legitimate critiques. While I doubt anyone was overly impressed with the Falcons’ free agent class, one could argue that they’ve made the best out of a difficult situation.

Time will tell if these moves come back to bite Atlanta this season, but it’s only fair to wait until the 2026 NFL Draft to fairly evaluate the Falcons’ offseason.

This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Atlanta Falcons’ free agency class criticized by NFL execs