Neil C. from Dundee, Scotland
Hey Tori. Can you please discuss the concerns we hear from various outlets around Tyler Allgeier being offered as collateral for draft picks?
I don’t see why we can’t continue to function with Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier financially, should the front office offer him another deal. Tyler Allgeier deserves a shot as an RB1, but I don’t want to see us lose a superstar just for draft picks.
Thanks, from this Ruke Orhorhoro guy 🏴🏴
Well, Neil, I guess when it comes to Allgeier’s future with the organization, it ultimately boils down to opportunity cost and comparative advantage. Economics 101. Opportunity cost: Could you acquire something of equal or greater value to what you have in Allgeier? Whether that be via a draft pick or otherwise? Comparative advantage: Could the Falcons produce a similar rushing output with a player at a lower opportunity cost (i.e. a rookie contract value compared to a second contract value for Allgeier)?
If the Falcons feel that they cannot produce to the level they deem necessary without Allgeier, then he stays. You make it work, and you likely sacrifice another position group in order to do so. But do the Falcons have the means to actually do so? And is Allgeier’s production replicable?
Because realistically, all within the span of four years’ time, you’re going to have to find ways to pay your big-time playmakers: Allgeier, Robinson, Drake London and, at a certain point you hope, Penix. That’s not even getting into the contract extensions a player like Jessie Bates III could draw, or Darnell Mooney if he nears another 1,000-yard season. It’s just difficult to conceptualize that the Falcons couldn’t get Allgeier’s production at a lesser value. And here’s the thing, too: I want Allgeier paid. Like you, I want him to have RB1 reps and recognition somewhere. As long as Robinson is in Atlanta, it won’t be here. So, as much as I would hate to see Allgeier walk in free agency, that may be the reality. But he could walk away a success story, and with more money in his pocket — a win for the Falcons’ draft strategy and a win for Allgeier’s own personal future.