Falcons free agency: Atlanta's not getting comfortable just yet

When Dan Quinn told reporters he thought the team "nailed it" in free agency, the vast majority of us had already moved our focus from free agency to the draft. There were a few pieces written that suggested the Falcons were done in free agency, and while that's almost never accurate in late March or early April, the team did seem to be winding down.

The reported interest in former Giants safety Stevie Brown is a useful reminder that Quinn's rhetoric is little more than that, whether he signs or not, and I'm actually quite grateful for that. Quinn, Scott Pioli and Thomas Dimitroff can't look at this roster and tell us with a straight face that they think it's done being improved, and even with eight draft picks on their way to Atlanta at the end of the month, there are holes that would be best patched with veteran players. While Brown isn't a world beater, he's a useful safety who was pretty good as recently as 2012, and he could at least compete with Charles Godfrey for the starting gig at free safety.

The team doesn't need to stop there, either. If a useful player shakes loose in May or over the summer, the team should scoop that player up. Looking over the roster, we can easily identify a half-dozen positions where the team either has a starter of uncertain talent or weak depth. At this stage of the game, anyone you pick up that has the potential to be an upgrade should come at a reasonable price, given the cool market they've seen up to this point. It's not like the Falcons are hurting for cap space, either.

We're all hoping to see this team return to relevance sooner than later. In that context, "nailing" the offseason means more than just the March free agent frenzy and a useful draft class. it means finding the best possible players whenever they become available, and we'll hope the Falcons can pull that off.