On Monday afternoon, Falcons owner Arthur Blank and team president Rich McKay gave a press conference to reflect on Atlanta’s disappointing 4-12 season.

During an hour-long interview with reporters, Blank and McKay each emphasized numerous times the need for the team’s new head coach and general manager to have a plan to both win quickly and create sustainable success.

Here are five takeaways from Monday’s end-of-the-season press conference.

Falcons want to win now

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“This is not a game of patience, this is a game of results,” opened Blank. McKay would follow suit, saying he wants to win in 2021.

“I believe you can win in this league and win very quickly, and I believe with the roster, we can do that,” McKay stated. “But we are not going to do it by sacrificing the future from the standpoint of the salary cap trades.”

With the Falcons seemingly left in shambles after the 2007 season, it was expected the team would need several years to rebuild. However, the team went on to produce five consecutive winning seasons and won double-digit games in four of the five years.

The past few years have been unacceptable

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Blank was first asked about what happened to the Falcons who were on the brink of a Super Bowl win to now one of the worst teams in the league.

“It’s not due to lack of effort, it’s not due to lack of trying, it’s not due to lacking of planning from our coaching staff, our general manager, etc. I think we made some mistakes in the draft that hurt us,'” Blank stated.

In regards to the drafting blunders, the Falcons have tried to fix their pass rush by addressing this need in the first round with Vic Beasley and Takk McKinley. Beasley never returned to the Falcons after the team picked up his fifth-year option and McKinley was cut from the team this season after Atlanta declined his fifth-year option last offseason.

Long list of candidates

(AP Photo/Doug Murray)

“They have to see the game the same way they have to have a similar plan for how do you build a championship team,” proclaimed Blank.  McKay continued the discussion about the potential head coach and general manager candidates, going into detail.

“On the coaching level, it’s probably about the same because coaching level is always going to feel like there’s less available candidates because there’s less names known to the public,” said McKay. “On the GM side, they’re also less known, but know them all. I think this GM list is really deep.”

Salary cap doesn't seem to be a concern

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“We talked about salary cap in both the interviews that we’ve done so far on GMs and what their thoughts and plans would be,” said McKay. “I didn’t see anybody express overt concerns about it.”

Blank backed up McKay’s statements by saying the Falcons are getting independent evaluations of their roster. The team is currently $24 million above the projected salary cap allotment for 2021. Of course, this means some players will have to be cut and other see their contracts restructured.

The futures of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones

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“They need to be included in the plan,” said Blank on the need for the new hires to have a vision for both Jones and Ryan. “Now, what they do with them is not going to be my decision. The GM and head coach will have to look at the whole roster and how is it built for today and how is it built for tomorrow, are we getting ready for tomorrow? How do we have a successful transition into the next chapter or chapters?”

Blank then went on to state how you can’t tie the hands of a potential hire by taking a strong stance on labeling some players as off limits.

“What you are asking for, that is not off-limits and should be probed deeply, do they have a plan on turning around the franchise sooner rather than later so they’re winning in 2021? Do they have a plan that’s sustainable over a long period of time so we can make sure this team is competitive, not just for the next year or two but over a long period of time?”

When asked about potentially taking a quarterback with the No. 4 overall pick, Blank and McKay indicated it would be up for consideration. Given that Matt Schaub has announced his retirement, the team lacks depth with Kurt Benkurt as the only other QB on the roster.