He joined me to discuss how the Falcons are trying to improve in the trenches via free agency."Despite not making any splash signings in free agency James Daniels Jerseys Stitched , it hasn’t been a quiet off-season in Atlanta. Several coaches were fired. Many long-time veterans were released. High round draft picks have felt the pressure of needing to perform at a higher level. Unsuccessful contract negotiations with key players have left some lingering concern across the fan base. There have been plenty of noteworthy headlines to make up for the lack of notable signings, and the Falcons have been gaining momentum of late. With the NFC continuing to get better, the Falcons can’t afford to take another step back. This is a team built to win now. Pro Football Focus’ Garrett Mehal joins me to examine the Falcons’ roster and free agency thus far, with those thoughts in mind. He is the man behind the PFF Falcons Twitter account. Off-season acquisitions and declarations on both linesHow the Falcons are going to improve in the trenches has been the central focus of their off-season. While major reinforcements are obviously needed, they had to make sure their main centerpiece remains in Atlanta. Grady Jarrett has developed into their most consistent player on the defensive line. He is coming off the best of his career, which meant a lucrative long-term deal appeared to be imminent. That hasn’t quite come to fruition as Jarrett received the franchise tag. Despite developing into one of the top defensive tackles in the league, the front office couldn’t come to terms with him for the long haul. Jarrett isn’t on the level of Aaron Donald or Fletcher Cox, but there is a strong case to be made for him being right below them alongside the likes of Chris Jones and Geno Atkins.“Jarrett is definitely in the second-tier,” Mehal stated. “He’s an interesting case because he wasn’t always getting to the quarterback at the level of the players you previously mentioned. In the last five games of last season, Jarrett was playing at a premier level. He was getting five to six pressures a game. Quarterbacks had to get the ball out quicker because of his disruptiveness.”“I’m not sure what the holdup is in regards to his contract situation. Could they be hesitant because he hasn’t always been consistent as a pass rusher? It’s hard to say. Jarrett has always been an outstanding run defender. How he progresses as a pass rusher will be interesting in 2019. If he can sustain the numbers he was putting up at the end of the season, he can be right below the likes of Donald and Cox.”Although Jarrett isn’t the only player on the roster due for a massive payday, his contract situation did restrict the Falcons going into free agency. Not having the cap space to pursue players such as Rodger Saffold left the front office searching for viable starting options at a cheaper price. James Carpenter and Jamon Brown were signed as potential solutions to their biggest positional need. Mehal understands the logic behind signing both players. That doesn’t mean he envisions them being difference makers on a revamped offensive line. “Neither player can be considered as an above-average guard,” Mehal stated. “It’s more average to slightly below average when assessing them. Both players do bring starting experience Youth Eddie Goldman Jerseys , particularly in playing for good teams like the Rams and Seahawks. They also bring much-needed depth because the only guards on the roster were Brandon Fusco and Wes Schweitzer going into the off-season. I wouldn’t consider either signing to be a huge upgrade. The signings were definitely necessary given the situation at the position.”On the defensive line, there has been plenty of discussion about Vic Beasley’s status. The former first round pick is facing major scrutiny. After becoming the NFL sack king in 2016, he hasn’t come anywhere close to matching that production. Beasley isn’t overwhelming tackles with his blistering first step and wicked agility anymore. Instead of generating pressure, he is being largely erased out of most games. Quinn spoke about taking a more “hands on” approach to get the most out of Beasley. Mehal is unsure of what to expect from him at this stage of his career.“The talk last off-season was about them not using Beasley as an off-ball linebacker anymore,” Mehal said. “They weren’t going to give him any coverage responsibilities anymore. Putting him in a pure pass-rushing role was the plan. That didn’t work out last year, as he was near the bottom of the league in pass-rushing productivity. I’m not sure how they can use him differently at this point. He’s shown he can produce at a somewhat high level. We saw plenty of good things from him in his first two seasons. For him to regress puts the coaching staff in a tough spot. He is Quinn’s guy, but this has to be the make-or-break year for him. You’d like to see Beasley improve his hands, while the coaching staff tries to get more creative in utilizing him.”Stay tuned for part two of Allen’s discussion with Garrett Mehal, covering the draft on coming on Tuesday. Check our our Thoughts on the NFL this week and make sure to leave a few of your own in the comment section."1) What the New England Patriots have done during the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era is incredible. I get the fatigue many NFL fans have with them, but as a gigantic Chicago Bulls fans during the Phil Jackson/Michael Jordan era, I can see both sides to watching a dominating run. Cheering on the Bulls during that time was so rewarding. We got to watch greatness on a daily basis. As good as Jordan was, those teams were all so fun to root for. Scottie Pippen was the only other constant on Chicago’s championship teams, but those six squads had plenty of other guys that helped them achieve their rings. As Bulls fans we have a special place in our memories for Horace Grant Eddie Goldman Jerseys Stitched , John Paxson (pre running the Bulls), Steve Kerr, Dennis Rodman, Cliff Levingston, Stacey King, Toni Kukoc, John Salley, etc.And I’d imagine it’s similar for Patriots fans. Brady is in the G.O.A.T. discussion, but Pats’ fans must have fond memories of Kevin Faulk, Richard Seymour, Deion Branch, Tedy Bruschi, Shane Vereen Dan Hampton Jerseys Stitched , Dont’a Hightower, Chris Long, and all those other players that helped their franchise to six Super Bowl wins in nine tries. 2) I mentioned Brady is in the G.O.A.T. discussion, and not the clear cut G.O.A.T., because you can’t discount what Joe Montana did during his time. Montana went 4 for 4 in Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers, and in a much different era his passing numbers in those games hold up even today. His career 127.8 passer rating in Super Bowls is still the best of all time. Even if you take Brady’s four best performances and calculate the passer rating from only them (106.4), he’s still far short of Montana’s Super Bowl greatness.I’m not saying Brady isn’t the greatest of all time, but I’m not saying he is either. 3) Where did all this Julian Edelman for the Hall of Fame nonsense start?Edelman is a damn good player, but at no time during his career was he ever considered one of the best wide receivers in the game. He was an important piece to three Super Bowl champions, but he’s also a 0 time All Pro and a 0 time Pro Bowler. 4) Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay is still a damn good football coach, and he’ll have his team back at it, but he matched wits with the best and came up short. “There really is no other way to put it, I’m pretty numb right now Youth Cordarrelle Patterson Jerseys , but definitely I got outcoached,” McVay said. “I didn’t do enough for our football team.”5) McVay’s first offseason task will be to take the training wheels off his quarterback, Jared Goff. From Sports Illustrated; If Goff can’t get to a point where he can make all the necessary adjustments on his own, the Rams may want to think about finding a new QB.6) The Oakland Raiders are expected to become the Las Vegas Raiders for the 2020 season, but the latest talk is they might play their home games in 2019 in San Francisco. Their lease is up at the Oakland Coliseum and they need a “home” for this year, so they are talking to the San Francisco Giants about playing their home games at Oracle Park.Their new Vegas stadium will be a combo for them and for UNLV, so why not just play their 2019 games at the current UNLV home stadium, Sam Boyd Stadium to get a jump start on the Vegas market?EDIT: Not in San Fran...7) It’s possible we’ll see a veteran QB shuffle this offseason as rumors are circulating that theDolphins are going to get rid of Ryan Tannehill and the Bengals are parting ways with Andy Dalton. The Giants may move on from Eli Manning and the Ravens may be ready to trade Joe Flacco. Also with the Eagles picking up the option on Nick Foles, they are likely to trade him away too. EDIT: And then this happened...8) Speaking of Eagle QBs, the latest news about about Carson Wentz doesn’t paint the young player in the best light with anonymous players reported to have called Wentz “egotistical,” “selfish,” and “uncompromising,” and that he plays “favorites Cordarrelle Patterson Jerseys Stitched ,” doesn’t like to be “questioned,” needs to “practice what he preaches,” and fails “to take accountability.” This recent Philly Voice article also says that players like Foles more than Wentz. This should be a fun offseason in Philadelphia. 9) We’ll be bringing you guys a lot of draft coverage in the coming weeks, and part of that will be our Mocking the Mocks series where we look at a mock draft from an NFL analyst and, well, mock it. This latest three rounder from the NFL Networks’ Chad Reuter has the Chicago Bears going in an unexpected direction. Admittedly, I haven’t done a ton of digging into the draft yet, but I do know what the Bears need and I wouldn’t have wide receiver anywhere near the top of that list. Perhaps Ryan Pace would have McLaurin so high atop his board that he’d be the best player available, but I’m not mocking a wide out to the Bears with their first pick in the 2019 draft. 10) There were conflicting rumors/reports over the weekend as to which teams would be playing in the 2019 season opener for the NFL’s 100 Year celebration. One report had it being a rematch of one of the conference championship games with the Super Bowl winning team deciding which, meaning it’d be the Patriots vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. The NFL has traditionally gone with the Super Bowl champs in that Thursday prime time slot, but with the 100th season celebration taking place they might go a different route. The other report was that it’d be the Chicago Bears vs. the Green Bay Packers from Soldier Field to kick off the 2019 season. Since this is also the Bears’ 100th season, the celebratory tie-in makes sense. I’d imagine that the Bears would be allowed to pick their home opponent for their own 100th year anniversary — much like the Packers did a year ago — and I’d expect they’d want a piece of the Pack.