The structure is set, and now the Falcons have to actually build a quality 2016 team

There are tweaks coming, I'm sure, but the Falcons' 2016 coaching staff and front office figures to be mostly set after the team determined they'd be keeping Thomas Dimitroff and Scott Pioli. With that intrigue out of the way, the Falcons certainly aren't in the position they were a year ago, with a freshly fired coach, a need to wait to interview preferred candidate Dan Quinn, and a little uncertainty in the front office.

That's a good thing for Atlanta, because this team is facing a critical offseason. They've now gone .500 or worse three seasons in a row, and nobody associated with the team seems all that pleased with this. When you're a team with a new stadium on the way, you really can't afford to have the fanbase quit on your team, and Arthur Blank is smart enough to know the mood right now. The Falcons are banking on a little bit of stability and faith in their current brain trust to acquire the players they need, and as Allen Strk noted this morning, that's a little concerning.

But that's what lies ahead for the Falcons for months and months: The players. If Mike Smith, Dan Quinn, and the front office intrigue dominated the headlines until March last year, this year we've got nothing to talk about but the roster, which too often fell short in 2015. Atlanta won't lack for cap space and Quinn has a reputation as a player's coach, so while I don't foresee the team landing Eric Berry or anything like that, they shouldn't have much trouble landing free agents they like. With only five draft picks, they're going to have to dip in there to stand a chance.

This team is not one player away, but I think it's an exaggeration to suggest that the Falcons are a teardown job. This offseason will go a long way toward determining what the Falcons of 2017 look like, an by extension how full the Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be.