Thomas Dimitroff “not exactly sure” if they will keep Vic Beasley

In years past, the Falcons braintrust typically had a long-reaching post-season press conference diving into the future plans for the team. It is there we get some insight on who will stay and who will go and the offseason emphasis. That press conference was much shorter, with all involved seemingly a bit skittish after narrowly surviving for one more season.

General manager Thomas Dimitroff is a bit more chatty at the Senior Bowl, finally giving us some thoughts into his thinking on major offseason moves. ESPN’s Vaughn McClure caught up with Dimitroff and asked about pass rusher Vic Beasley.

The response is guaranteed to make no one happy.

“We’re not exactly sure of the direction we’re going to go with it. I thought Vic had a nice push down the stretch. and I know he impressed a lot of people in the organization.”

This is a little surprising. The Falcons are in serious cap trouble despite the team’s suggestion otherwise. Additionally, we have seen five years of Beasley across multiple different roles and responsibilities. How his future is even still in question is quite confusing.

Beasley has unquestionably been a disappointment after being selected 7th overall in the 2015 draft. He was Dan Quinn’s first selection, and similar to Quinn’s time in Atlanta, he has been plagued with underachievement and inconsistency.

While Beasley did finish 2019 strong in sacks, Pro Football Focus noted that he was one of only six players with 300 or more pass-rushing snaps and a “pass-rush win rate” below 10 percent. The analytics site suggests his sack number was more fluky and not repeatable than Beasley turning the corner into a consistent pass rusher.

Why Thomas Dimitroff is unsure about Beasley’s future is unclear. His fifth-year option in 2019 was already a one-year prove-it deal. Despite a healthy number of snaps, Beasley failed to do much outside of his 9.0 sacks. Spending limited funds on a limited player feels like a clear and obvious misstep.