The Falcons still had a few irons in the fire over the weekend, and for some fairly notable names, but we're evidently getting close to the end of those heady days where Atlanta chases starters.
"We are still in talks with a couple of guys, but it is for sure winding down into that role," Quinn said. "Specifically, some of the players now that we are visiting with, if we have an update over the next couple of days, we’ll reach out to you. …We are definitely in the winding down process."
The team landed center Alex Mack and receiver Mohamed Sanu as the big acquisitions for the offense, while defensive ends Adrian Clayborn and Derrick Shelby were solid gets for the defense. Since then, Atlanta has missed out on Jerrell Freeman at linebacker and watched a handful of other interesting targets head elsewhere. They're now confirmed to be in on James Laurinaitis and Chris Long, and reported to be in on a handful of anonymous safeties.
This is more or less the consistent Falcons approach to free agency once they land the guys they care about most, with the team sticking to a budget and trying to identify valuable players who come at reasonable prices. It hasn't worked out consistently for Atlanta in the past, but we'll hope it does this time around.
The second phase, it's safe to assume, involves filling out the roster pre-draft so the team can concentrate on their needs, with the third phase (if they delineate that) involving summer bargain hunting. The Falcons have done a nice job a handful of times in the past picking up values later in the offseason, and with their needs heading into 2016, we'll have to hope they can do so again.
Who is on your "phase two" wishlist?