Ian Cunningham Favorite For Falcons’ GM Position?
The Falcons announced the completion of general manager interviews for four candidates today as the team seeks a total reload of team leadership this offseason. They hired former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski to fill the same position in Atlanta last weekend, and now, according to Josh Kendall of The Athletic, Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham is considered the frontrunner to be named general manager.
Cunningham was one of the four to interview for the GM job today, but it wasn’t his first interview with the Falcons. Earlier in their offseason, there were reports that Atlanta was expected to hire former MVP quarterback Matt Ryan to a front office job. Presumably reasoning that the position they intended to hire him into would require Rooney Rule compliance, they quickly scheduled interviews with four other candidates, of which Cunningham was one.
Kendall asserted today that, ever since Cunningham interviewed for the president of football job that went to Ryan, he’s been considered the favorite to land the general manager job. Cunningham wasn’t the only president of football candidate to be brought back for GM interviews, though. San Francisco’s director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams has also been a candidate for both positions. Williams also interviewed today, and his experience working with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan — Ryan’s old offensive coordinator in Atlanta — should provide him some confidence in his ability to work with Ryan.
The other two GM candidates to interview today were Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Bradway and Eagles senior personnel director/advisor to the general manager Joe Douglas. Bradway has been tied to the Chiefs for five years and the Eagles for the 10 years before that. The son of former Jets general manager Terry Bradway, he just recently started to garner interest that could lead to him following in his father’s footsteps to become an NFL general manager. Douglas is a year removed from serving as the Jets general manager himself. Of the six candidates who have interviewed, he’s the only one with actual GM experience, serving six years in the role in New York.
The other two candidates, Steelers assistant general manager Andy Weidl and Texans assistant general manager James Liipfert, interviewed for the job yesterday. With all six named candidates having interviewed, it seems the Falcons may be well on their way to announcing their decision. If Kendall’s views of the race are accurate, Cunningham, who’s long been viewed as an up-and-coming name around front offices in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Chicago, could finally land a role as a general manager.
Assuming the team is through interviewing new candidates, here’s one more look at the list of potential GMs:
- Mike Bradway, assistant general manager (Chiefs): Interviewed 1/23
- Ian Cunningham, assistant general manager (Bears): Interviewed 1/23
- Joe Douglas, senior personnel director (Eagles): Interviewed 1/23
- James Liipfert, assistant general manager (Texans): Interviewed 1/22
- Andy Weidl, assistant general manager (Steelers): Interviewed 1/22
- Josh Williams, director of scouting and football operations (49ers): Interviewed 1/23
Dolphins Hire Chris Tabor As ST Coordinator, Kyle Smith As Assistant GM
A few days into his tenure as the Dolphins’ head coach, Jeff Hafley has made the first addition to his staff. The Dolphins have hired Chris Tabor as their special teams coordinator, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
The 54-year-old Tabor is on his way to Miami after one season as AFC East rival Buffalo’s special teams coordinator. Tabor’s status with the Bills was uncertain after the club fired head coach Sean McDermott on Monday, but he’ll now become an ST coordinator with a fifth NFL team.
A coach at various colleges from 1993-2007, Tabor jumped to the pros as the Bears’ assistant ST coordinator in 2008. Dave Toub was then in charge of the unit, one that also had future Hall of Fame return man Devin Hester in the fold.
After three years working under Toub, Tabor ran the Browns’ ST unit from 2011-17. He and Hafley overlapped in Cleveland from 2014-15, when the latter was the Browns’ defensive backs coach.
Tabor returned to Chicago to lead its ST group from 2018-21, which preceded a two-year run in Carolina in the same role. He ended 2023 as the Panthers’ interim head coach, replacing the fired Frank Reich, but managed just one win in six games. Tabor didn’t coach anywhere in 2024.
With Tabor leading the Bills’ special teams in 2025, running back Ray Davis earned first-team All-Pro honors as a kick returner. Pro Football Focus ranked the unit ninth overall this season, while the Dolphins checked in at 28th. Craig Aukerman is now out after just one season as Miami’s ST coordinator.
In addition to bringing in Tabor, the Dolphins made another notable hire on Friday. The team added Kyle Smith as its assistant general manager, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Smith, the son of former Chargers GM A.J. Smith, had been with the Falcons since 2021. The 41-year-old spent 2023-25 as the Falcons’ assistant GM under Terry Fontenot, whom they fired after the season. Smith will now team up with new Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan.
Buccaneers Hire Zac Robinson As OC
The Buccaneers have landed on their new offensive coordinator. Zac Robinson is headed to Tampa Bay, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The move is now official, per a team announcement.
This news will reunite Robinson with quarterback Baker Mayfield. Mayfield made a “big push” for Tampa Bay to acquire Robinson, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network adds. Shortly after a follow-up interview with the Buccaneers, a deal has been struck.
Robinson was among not only the candidates who spoke once with the team for the OC gig but the finalists as well. He conducted a second interview yesterday, and Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reports an agreement was reached late last night. After two years leading the Falcons‘ offense, Robinson will now take on the same responsibility in Tampa Bay.
Per Rapoport, senior offensive assistant Ken Zampese along with pass-game coordinator T.J. Yates are among the names to watch regarding Falcons staffers who could join Robinson with the Bucs. Nothing is official on that front at this time, but it is of course common for new hires to bring familiar faces with them when changing teams.
Leading up today’s news, Robinson’s future was unclear even though his Atlanta departure was expected. The Falcons cleaned house immediately after the end of the regular season, dismissing head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot. On Wednesday, it was learned new HC Kevin Stefanski is expected to bring Tommy Rees with him from Cleveland to Atlanta to handle offensive coordinator duties. That confirmed Robinson would be heading elsewhere during this year’s hiring cycle.
In addition to his Bucs interviews, Robinson met with the Lions and Eagles regarding their OC openings. Detroit’s vacancy has been filled, but Philadelphia’s list of candidates has now been thinned. Robinson will become the latest in an increasingly long line of coordinators tasked with leading Mayfield and Co. in Tampa Bay. Josh Grizzard became a one-and-done staffer in that role when he was fired following the end of the 2025 season.
Prior to Grizzard’s brief tenure, Liam Coen and Dave Canales were each in place for only one year. Both of them parlayed strong campaigns as a coordinator into head coaching opportunities. Stability would be welcomed at the OC spot for the Buccaneers, a team looking to bounce back from their highly underwhelming end to this season. Grizzard’s unit ranked 21st in total offense and 18th in scoring during his lone campaign leading it.
Robinson, 39, led Atlanta to a sixth-place finish in total offense during his first season in place. The Falcons regressed in a number of ways on offense in 2025, though, prompting the sweeping changes made throughout the organization. Prior to his Atlanta stint, Robinson spent five seasons with the Rams. That included his time as Los Angeles’ quarterbacks coach in 2022, the year in which Mayfield briefly played for Los Angeles. All parties involved will hope a reunion between the two will help bring Tampa Bay back into the postseason in 2026.
Coaching Rumors: Cardinals, Kingsbury, Webb, 49ers, Falcons, Petzing, Lions, Fraley, Jaguars, Commanders
As the Steelers and Bills’ searches get underway, the Browns, Cardinals and Raiders’ processes have shifted into the background a bit. Two candidates (Mike McDaniel, Jesse Minter) pulled out of the Cleveland search, while Kevin Stefanski exited the Vegas derby. No known candidates have interviewed for the Arizona job and withdrawn, but insider Jordan Schultz still expects the NFC West team to have a difficult time attracting a quality candidate. Citing an organizational reputation in paying lower-end money to coaches, as evidenced most recently by Jonathan Gannon‘s bottom-tier HC salary, Schultz also points to the Cardinals’ standing in the NFC West as a deterrent to candidates. The division produced three playoff teams this season, and the Cards have not booked a postseason berth since 2021. They also carry a significant QB decision, with some of Kyler Murray‘s 2026 money guaranteed. It is not a lock Murray will be traded or released, but the next HC has a sketchier path to landing a successor due to this draft’s makeup.
Here is the latest from the coaching carousel:
- The Cardinals’ three-year OC, Drew Petzing, landed on his feet by winning the race for the Lions‘ play-calling post. Petzing can thank former Vikings coworker Hank Fraley, in no small part, for this job. Detroit’s O-line coach made a recommendation for Petzing, per SI.com’s Albert Breer, who adds the Lions’ push to keep Fraley — an OC candidate last year — made his word valuable on this year’s carousel. The Lions wanted some familiarity in their hire, Breer adds. While Petzing has never worked with Dan Campbell, his past with Fraley helped. Detroit was burned by familiarity last year, as John Morton‘s second Lions stint did not work out. But they will try their hand with Arizona’s previous play-caller (and ex-Vikings Mike Zimmer-era staffer).
- Jeff Ulbrich intends to retain some of his staffers under Stefanski. The second-year Falcons DC appears set on keeping DBs coach Justin Hood. The 49ers requested a meeting with Hood for a high-ranking job, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero, but the Falcons blocked it. (This would not have been for a DC job, as the Falcons could not block that.) Hood, 39, has only been in the NFL since 2021 and was not an Ulbrich hire. Hood was part of Jimmy Lake‘s defensive staff in 2024; prior to that, he was a three-year quality control coach with the Packers. But he is now an Atlanta priority.
- Davis Webb remains in the Raiders’ HC search and has been connected to the Bills, impressing in interviews. The third-year Broncos QBs coach cannot complete another interview until next week, but a potential pairing with an OC has come up. Webb linking up with Kliff Kingsbury has circulated as a possibility, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes. This would be interesting given the experience disparity, as Kingsbury was Webb’s coach at Texas Tech. Webb, 30, played under Kingsbury, 46, for three seasons in Lubbock before transferring to Cal in 2016. Kingsbury is no longer in the running for any HC jobs but has been linked to the Ravens and Titans’ OC posts.
- The Commanders are making another key promotion on their offensive staff. Darnell Stapleton, part of Dan Quinn‘s first two staffs, is moving up to the offensive line coach position, ESPN’s Dan Graziano tweets. Stapleton, 40, spent the past two years as Washington’s assistant O-line coach. That was his first NFL job, having come to the NFL after two seasons as Florida’s O-line coach. Stapleton has worked closely with new OC David Blough since coming to D.C., per Graziano. Shane Toub is moving into Stapleton’s former position. The son of longtime Chiefs ST coordinator Dave Toub, Shane spent the past three seasons as a quality control staffer. Dan Quinn kept him from Ron Rivera‘s final staff and is now promoting him to a position coaching role.
- The Jaguars are hiring Dolphins cornerbacks coach Mathieu Araujo, CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz tweets. Among the Jets’ DC candidates, Araujo evidently will not land that job. Araujo reunites with former Dolphins coworker Anthony Campanile, though the Jags’ current DC is still up for the Cardinals’ HC job. Araujo was on all four McDaniel Miami staffs, three of those including Campanile.
Falcons Request Joe Douglas GM Meeting
The NFL currently does not feature a second-chance GM. The two most recent such execs — Trent Baalke, Tom Telesco — were fired early in the 2025 offseason. But the Falcons will consider one.
Atlanta sent an interview request to Philadelphia staffer Joe Douglas, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones notes. The former Jets GM has settled back into a role on Howie Roseman‘s Eagles staff, as a senior personnel director; this marks his first interview request since his 2024 Jets firing.
Matt Ryan is heading up the Falcons’ front office, and Kevin Stefanski is helping guide the team to a GM. This setup will naturally make this GM role less impactful than most others. But with Ryan not having any experience, the Falcons are naturally seeking a seasoned staffer to pair with he and Stefanski.
Douglas, 49, was part of Roseman’s Super Bowl LII-winning front office before landing the Jets’ GM job in 2019. Douglas took that job after the Jets had a head coach (Adam Gase) in place. The Jets fired Gase following the 2020 season, giving Douglas the chance to hire his own coach. That became Robert Saleh in 2021, and this partnership became memorable for the wrong reasons.
Although the arrangement deteriorated in 2024, the Jets did build a strong defense during Douglas’ time. Douglas was not in place for the team’s Quinnen Williams draft choice, but he did select Sauce Gardner, Jermaine Johnson and Will McDonald. Douglas also was in place when the Jets added All-Pro linebacker Quincy Williams and steady cornerback starter D.J. Reed. Douglas drafted Garrett Wilson as well, though another Wilson he chose came to define his tenure.
Douglas made the mistake of trading Sam Darnold upon earning the 2021 No. 2 overall pick. That became Zach Wilson, a megabust who largely sank Saleh’s tenure. The Jets traded for Aaron Rodgers in 2023, and after the all-time great’s Achilles tear prompted Woody Johnson to give Saleh and Douglas a mulligan, the owner fired both in 2024. Johnson fired Saleh without Douglas’ approval in October 2024 and then canned Douglas, after largely stripping the GM of power that year, weeks later. This period included the infamous Madden-rating story involving Johnson, one that prompted Douglas to allegedly say he “answer(ed) to a teenager (Brick Johnson). The Eagles rehired Douglas in May.
With the Falcons announcing their interviews with James Liipfert and Andy Weidl are complete, here is how their GM search looks so far:
- Mike Bradway, assistant general manager (Chiefs): Interview requested
- Ian Cunningham, assistant general manager (Bears): Interview requested
- Joe Douglas, senior personnel director (Eagles): Interview requested
- James Liipfert, assistant general manager (Texans): Interviewed 1/22
- Andy Weidl, assistant general manager (Steelers): Interviewed 1/22
- Josh Williams, director of scouting and football operations (49ers): Interview requested
Falcons Hire Tommy Rees As Offensive Coordinator
JANUARY 22: The Falcons announced on Thursday that Rees’ hire is official. He and Stefanski will now move forward in their new setting and fill out the remainder of the offensive staff.
JANUARY 21: Tommy Rees is set to follow Kevin Stefanski from Cleveland to Atlanta. The Falcons are expected to hire Rees as their offensive coordinator, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. The deal isn’t official, but Rees has accepted the job, according to Albert Breer of SI.com.
This was the likely outcome when the Falcons hired Stefanski, previously the Browns’ head coach, on Saturday. Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reported then that the 33-year-old Rees was a candidate to rejoin Stefanski in Atlanta. The pair developed a strong working relationship in their two years together in Cleveland.
Rees interviewed to take over for Stefanski, but this move slams the door on that possibility. It’s obvious Cleveland will select a different head coaching candidate instead.
Formerly a Notre Dame quarterback, Rees got his start as a coach as a graduate assistant with Northwestern in 2015. He later returned to his alma mater to serve as Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach from 2020-22.
Rees worked in the same roles at Alabama in 2023, the last season of head coach Nick Saban‘s remarkable career. He oversaw a breakout campaign from then-sophomore quarterback Jalen Milroe, who’s now a backup with the Seahawks, and then left for the NFL.
After his only year on Saban’s staff, Rees joined the Browns as their tight ends coach and pass game specialist in 2024. Stefanski promoted Rees to offensive coordinator after firing Ken Dorsey last January, but the head coach opened 2025 as the Browns’ play caller. That changed when Stefanski handed the keys to Rees before a Week 10 loss to the Jets. It’s not known yet if they’ll continue with that arrangement in Atlanta.
The Browns’ offense ended the year a horrid 30th in yards and 31st in scoring, but the unit wasn’t exactly teeming with weapons. Although neither Stefanski nor Rees found an answer at quarterback among Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, that wasn’t a major surprise.
The 41-year-old Flacco was brought in as a stopgap, and the Browns wound up trading him to the Bengals in early October. Gabriel, a third-round rookie, struggled mightily before suffering a concussion in Rees’ second game as a play caller. Sanders, a fifth-round rookie, held the reins for the rest of the year. While Sanders performed better than Gabriel, he’s hardly a slam dunk to establish himself as the Browns’ solution under center.
The Falcons have a far more talented offense than the Browns (running back Bijan Robinson and wide receiver Drake London are among the game’s best at their positions), but QB is also a concern in Atlanta. After the 2023 season, former general manager Terry Fontenot made a mammoth free agent investment in Kirk Cousins and then surprisingly used the eighth overall pick on Michael Penix Jr. a little over a month later. Those two remain in place for now, but they’ve offered lackluster production for the Falcons.
Despite inking a four-year, $180MM contract, Cousins didn’t play well enough in his first Falcons season to keep the starting job. Then-head coach Raheem Morris benched Cousins for Penix in Week 16. Penix stuck as the Falcons’ starter this season until he went down with a partially torn ACL in Week 11. That continued a long history of serious injuries dating back to a college career divided between Indiana and Washington.
In the wake of his latest injury, it’s unknown if Penix will be healthy enough to start Week 1 in 2026. That’s assuming the Falcons’ new leaders – president of football Matt Ryan, a to-be-determined general manager and Stefanski – decide to go forward with Penix as the No. 1 option. They’re likely to release Cousins either way.
Along with questions at the game’s most important position, the Falcons’ offense is facing uncertainty at tight end. Kyle Pitts is due to become a free agent on the heels of a second-team All-Pro campaign. After successfully working with tight ends David Njoku and Harold Fannin in Cleveland, Stefanski and Rees may prefer to keep Pitts in the fold.
With Robinson, London and Pitts posting terrific numbers, the Falcons finished a slightly above-average 14th in total offense under coordinator Zac Robinson in 2025. Only eight teams amassed fewer points, though, and Stefanski and Rees will aim for better results next season.
Falcons Request GM Interview With Mike Bradway
The Falcons have named a fifth candidate in the running for their open general manager position. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Bradway has been requested to interview for the job in Atlanta.
Bradway joins Steelers assistant GM Andy Weidl, Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham, Texans assistant GM James Liipfert, and 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams as candidates to replace Terry Fontenot as general manager. All five names came in over the past two days, hot on the heels of the team’s hiring of Kevin Stefanski to fill their open head coaching position.
Despite Bradway owning nearly 20 years of NFL front office experience, a move to Atlanta would match Bradway with only his third NFL franchise. Much like many others in the Chiefs’ building, Bradway’s only NFL ties are to Kansas City and Philadelphia. The son of former Jets general manager Terry Bradway, Mike began his NFL front office career with a 10-year stint with the Eagles. In 2018, Bradway reunited with several who made the move to Kansas City about six years prior, when head coach Andy Reid departed from Philadelphia and landed the same job with the Chiefs.
Bradway’s first role with the Chiefs in 2018 was assistant director of personnel. Two years later, he was promoted into a joint assistant director of player personnel role with current Bears GM Ryan Poles, who had already served a year in the position. In 2021, both got promotions with Bradway being named director of player personnel and Poles being named executive director. When Poles departed for Chicago, Bradway earned another title bump up to senior director, serving in that role for three seasons before finally landing in his current role.
With Bradway getting his first general manager interest in the league today, he advances one step closer to following in his father’s footsteps towards landing a full GM position. Per Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the Falcons will begin interviewing candidates tomorrow, starting with Liipfert and Weidl over Zoom and continuing with more virtual interviews throughout the week, likely with the intention to move to in-person interviews next week.
NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/21/26
Today’s reserve/futures deals:
Atlanta Falcons
- TE Joshua Simon
Chicago Bears
- TE Qadir Ismail
Las Vegas Raiders
- LS Alex Ward
Los Angeles Rams
- S Nate Valcarcel
Miami Dolphins
- LB Seth Coleman
Philadelphia Eagles
- TE Jaheim Bell
San Francisco 49ers
Falcons Add James Liipfert, Ian Cunningham, Josh Williams To GM Interview List
With the Falcons’ search for a new president of football operations and head coach complete, the team is now looking for their next general manager.
Three names have been added to the list: Texans assistant GM James Liipfert (via The Athletic’s Dianna Russini), Bears assitant GM Ian Cunningham (via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer), and 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). That trio joins Steelers assistant GM Andy Weidl as Atlanta’s first four candidates.
Liipfert got his NFL start with the Patriots. He spent nine years in New England in various scouting roles before joining the Texans as their new director of college scouting in 2019. Liipfert began to move up the chain after Nick Caserio, a former Patriots colleague, was installed as the Texans’ general manager. Liipfert became the assistant director of player personnel in 2022, replaced ‘assistant’ with ‘executive’ in his title the following year, and moved up to assistant GM last June. His job, however, has largely stayed the same. He manages the Texans’ college scouting operations and has therefore played a huge role in building their current roster, which is powered by homegrown players.
Cunningham interviewed for the Falcons’ football operations job that went to Matt Ryan. It never seemed like anyone but Ryan would secure that position, but Cunningham did enough in his first meeting with the team that he is now under consideration for general manager. He interviewed for several jobs over the last few years, including the Jaguars’ and Titans’ GM jobs last offseason. He was thought to be a finalist for those jobs, as well as the Commanders’ vacancy in 2024. Like Liipfert, he has spent his career largely focused on scouting.
Williams also interviewed for what is now Ryan’s job and was a finalist for the Jaguars’ opening last year. He was also a finalist in the Dolphins’ search for a new GM this year, though Miami went with Jon-Eric Sullivan instead. In San Francisco, Williams oversees pro and college scouting and also assists in contract negotiations.
It is clear that the Falcons are looking to draft a general manager with a background in scouting. There are a number of young stars in Atlanta, but almost all of them were secured with first- or second-round picks. In the third round and beyond, former GM Terry Fontenot struggled to find players who could become starters while still on their rookie contract. His successor would look to correct that pattern to add more depth and build around players like Drake London and Bijan Robinson.
Falcons To Interview Andy Weidl For GM
In hiring Matt Ryan as their president of football and Kevin Stefanski as their head coach, the Falcons have crossed two key tasks off their list in the past 10 days. The Falcons still need to choose a general manager, though, and Steelers assistant GM Andy Weidl has emerged as a candidate to replace the fired Terry Fontenot. Weidl will interview for Fontenot’s old job, Mark Kaboly of The Pat McAfee Show reports.
With Ryan in charge of football matters, the Falcons’ GM gig is regarded as a secondary position. That means the Steelers could have blocked Weidl from interviewing with Atlanta, but they’ll instead allow him to discuss the position with Ryan & Co.
Weidl, a Pittsburgh native, began his career with the Steelers as a player personnel assistant in 1999. After working in scouting roles with the Saints and Ravens from 2000-16, he spent six years in the Eagles’ front office.
Weidl, who returned to the Steelers in 2022, crossed paths with Stefanski’s Browns twice in each of the past four seasons. The former AFC North rivals could soon join forces in Atlanta, where Stefanski will have input into the Falcons’ GM decision. While Ryan is atop the Falcons’ football department, he made it clear last week that he won’t meddle with either the head or GM once they’re in place.
“The final decisions that I am going to have to make is who we hire, but we are empowering (the HC and GM) to go out there and do their job and I have expressed that in the interviews that we have had,” Ryan said.
Before hiring Ryan in his new role, the Falcons interviewed Lions chief operating officer Mike Disner, Panthers executive vice president of operations Brandt Tilis, 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams, and Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham for the job. It’s unclear if Ryan will discuss the GM post with any of those four, but we know he’ll talk with Weidl.