FanHouse ThomasDimitroff

After a poor showing by the secondary in Saturday night's preseason game, Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith tried hard to not to single out the defensive backfield: "It's team defense," he said. "What I mean by that, is that it starts up front, it goes to the linebackers and it goes to the secondary. It's not just one group."

General manager Thomas Dimitroff wouldn't throw anyone under the bus either, but let it be known that between the time the third preseason game ended and the regular season began, the Falcons would be busy scouring the league for possible trades or free agents to sign. Dimitroff didn't waste any time finding someone.

On Tuesday, the Falcons sent a 2010 seventh-round draft pick to the St. Louis Rams for cornerback Tye Hill.

Michael Vick is still in federal prison and under indefinite NFL suspension, and the Atlanta Falcons have no intention of ever welcoming him back. But the Falcons think they can get something out of him in a trade, and they're actively trying to shop him.

Last offseason, Falcons owner Arthur Blank stripped Rich McKay of his general manager duties, although he retained the title of team president. Thomas Dimitroff took over as GM, had a lot to do with bringing Matt Ryan to Atlanta, and some eight months later, the Falcons are headed to the postseason. Along with the Dolphins and Lions, it's easily one of the most amazing stories of 2008.

Despite McKay having no say in personnel matters this season, he was Atlanta's general manager from 2003-2007, and earned a Super Bowl ring during his nine-year stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in that same role.

And now, the newly GM-less Browns are interested in talking to McKay. According to FOXSports.com's Jay Glazer, however, McKay is quite content with his current set-up.

... [D]espite reports that the Cleveland Browns will interview ... McKay, FOXSports.com has learned that McKay has rebuffed Cleveland's overture. McKay is slated to fly to Phoenix with the Falcons and not New York to meet with Browns owner Randy Lerner.

There were talks between the two sides, but McKay informed them he is happy where he is and did not want to interview for the job or consider it until after the rest of the candidates had run their course in Cleveland.

After surviving (figuratively, not in the dog-fighting sense) the Michael Vick melodrama, I'm guessing McKay wants to enjoy Atlanta's resurgence. Whatever the reason, this is good news for Patriots vice president Scott Pioli.

On Wednesday, the Falcons released Joey Harrington. Not surprising, really. Three days later, in less predictable news, the Falcons could be interested in re-signing the former third-overall pick in the 2002 draft.

So why bring Harrington back if you're Atlanta? Well, for starters, they're not exactly brimming with Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Currently, it's Chris Redman, D.J. Shockley and ... well, that's it. Second, Harrington signed a two-year, $6 million deal last off-season and was due a $1 million roster bonus next week. If the Falcons can save a little money, why not?

Long term, Atlanta still needs a quarterback. There's no question they'll take one in the 2008 NFL Draft, it's just a matter of when.

The Falcons are expected to select a quarterback at some point in the April 26-27 NFL draft. However, with gaping holes along the offensive and defensive lines, they might use the No. 3 overall pick to solidify those interior positions. This means waiting before taking a quarterback they hope will stabilize the sport's most important position.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Steve Wyche writes that new general manager Thomas Dimitroff "has expressed concerns about playing a young quarterback without the proper parts in place to protect him." Not having the "proper parts in place" describes the Falcons perfectly, I think.

This doesn't mean that Matt Ryan isn't a possibility with the third pick, just that Atlanta has so many other needs that Jake Long, for example, might be more attractive at that point in the proceedings. Whomever they take, it looks like Falcons fans are in for at least one more year of Joey Mania. Awesome.

The Falcons have a new head coach and general manager, and it looks like they'll have a bunch of new players by the time training camp opens in six months. Former head coach Bobby Petrino quit 13 games into his rookie season, and former general manager Rich McKay was "reassigned" earlier this off-season. Now Mike Smith and Thomas Dimitroff are tasked with rebuilding a franchise that made it to the NFC Championship game just three years ago.

First up, revamping the roster, and apparently no position is safe. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, veterans Lawyer Milloy, Wayne Gandy, Joe Horn, Brian Finneran, Warrick Dunn, Joey Harrison, Byron Leftwich and Keith Brooking could all be looking for work in the next few weeks.

"[The front office will] have to figure out how big this is going to be because they still have to line up and play 16 games next season," the NFL official told the AJC about the upcoming roster overhaul.

Which makes it seem unlikely that every player listed might not be back in 2008. The AJC's Steve Wyche writes that salary-cap constraints, age, injury history and scheme would all be reasons for making drastic changes. Winning four games probably had something to do with it too.

On the upside, even if the Falcons field a team full of no-names in 2008, at least they'll have plenty of cap room in 2009. One of the unintended benefits of having extremely low expectations is that if the Falcons win eight games next season it'll be like winning the Super Bowl (without the fear of Eugene Robinson trolling the streets looking for a good time the night before the big game).

Last year, Steve Spagnuolo was the Philadelphia Eagles linebackers coach. The Giants had just canned Tim Lewis as their defensive coordinator and were looking for a change (preferably one that involved improving the defense).

When Spagnuolo got the New York job, Giants fans were underwhelmed, and Eagles fans were excited that coach of one of the defense's weakest links was taking over the entire operation for a division rival.

A year later, New York's front office looks pretty smart. So smart, in fact, that Spagnuolo might not be back with the Giants in 2008.

The Falcons, still without a head coach, remain interested in Spagnuolo. The Giants and Spagnuolo last week agreed that the time was not right for him to interview with the Falcons during preparation for the playoffs.

When the Giants' season ends, Spagnuolo will be free to travel to Atlanta to speak with the Falcons. Reports also have surfaced that the Redskins have targeted Spagnuolo to replace Joe Gibbs as the head coach in Washington.

Who knows what's going on in Washington -- every day we hear something different -- but the Atlanta job seems more like a possibility. And although that organization is in shambles, they could finally be turning things around.

Maybe the Falcons finally got one right. New general manager Thomas Dimitroff, who spent the last six years as the Patriots head of college scouting, sounds like he plans on bringing some New England-style single-minded focus to Atlanta.

"One of the biggest things was sort of this tacit understanding of high expectations, sort of higher than I've ever been around," the 41-year-old Dimitroff said from his Atlanta office. "It wasn't like anyone was breathing down your neck to say, 'You need to do this, this, and this.' It was just expected and there was a tone set, a benchmark, and if you weren't to reach that level, then I knew - and everyone else knew - that you wouldn't be around for long."

This has to delight a beleaguered fan base and worry a lot of players. A four-win season doesn't happen by accident.

Dimitroff also stressed that the Patriots were also great at "the idea of indisputable role understanding." Or, more simply: players doing their jobs, no matter how specialized or mundane. It's a seemingly straightforward theory, but one that can be difficult to pull off in practice.

This all sounds good, but Dimitroff will have to change the culture of losing in an organization also ravaged by off-field scandal. And that could mean cleaning house. Right after they find a head coach.