Falcons earn 'A' grade for most-important free agent signing

It's the first year on the job for the new head of the Atlanta Falcons front office, former quarterback Matt Ryan. It's still too early to judge Ryan's offseason moves based on the results, but we can at least evaluate his process.

So far, the best move that Ryan has made was one of his earliest: signing former Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to a one-year deal at the veteran minimum.

That move earned the Falcons an "A" grade from Bleacher Report in a piece re-ranking the biggest free agent moves of the year.

"Another no-brainer for another NFC team losing confidence in a third-year first-round pick. Tagovailoa is a flawed quarterback but has accomplished a lot (Pro Bowler, league's highest-rated passer, passing yardage leader) at the age of 28. Miami is footing most of the bill."

If Tagovailoa bombs during the regular season as he did in his preseason debut against Denver, at least it didn't really cost the Falcons anything. Ryan added critical depth at the game's most important position and did it on the cheap - that's always going to earn strong grades no matter how the player winds up performing.

The rest of Ryan's major offseason with GM Ian Cunningham have been mostly well received. And while re-signing Bijan Robinson, Drake London, Kyle Pitts and Matthew Bergeron was necessary, that's a lot of money for a team that's not expected to contend.

Then again, it's important to keep in mind that Atlanta is far from a high-profile free agent destination and overpaying is part of the bargain for smaller markets that haven't won a playoff game in nearly a decade.

The Falcons' 2026 NFL Draft class didn't earn good reviews at the time, but given the picks Ryan had to work with the team did a pretty solid job - using their first two picks on premium positions and the rest to fill out their roster holes. You can do a whole lot worse than to follow that formula in the draft every year.

For now, we'll give Matt Ryan's first offseason an incomplete grade - but there are positive signs that he might know what he's doing.

This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons earn 'A' grade for most-important free agent signing