Falcons Leaning Toward Retaining Raheem Morris, Firing GM Terry Fontenot

By Sam Robinson | at January 4, 2026 10:25 am

10:25am: Morris is indeed expected to receive another year on the job, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The three-game win streak has helped a coach that was once viewed as on the way out, though Schefter points to staff changes taking place if/once Morris’ second stint with the organization is given a third season.

8:11am: The Falcons have an odd role to play in determining the NFC South champion today, with their result of their Saints matchup deciding if the Buccaneers or Panthers will book the conference’s No. 4 seed. A win, however, will not move Atlanta into the playoffs. This will run the franchise’s postseason drought to eight years.

Terry Fontenot has been the GM for five of those years, and the Falcons have not completed a winning season. Arthur Blank has been evaluating his staff, most notably tabbing consultants to provide information about whether the current operation is effective. The writing may be on the wall for Fontenot.

[RELATED: How Will Falcons Proceed With Fontenot, Raheem Morris?]

As it stands, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports many around the NFL expect the Falcons to move on from Fontenot but retain Morris. The Falcons have won three consecutive games down the stretch in Morris’ second season as the team’s full-time HC, but they are still falling short of expectations. That said, Morris is responsible for an 8-9 2024 season — the organization’s best record since 2017 — and could follow that up with another.

While that may not go down as a substantial victory for Morris — whom the Falcons employed as their interim HC in 2020 — back-to-back eight-win seasons would make for a hard-luck firing given the organizational struggles in the years prior to his return. He is still viewed as being on the hot seat entering Week 18, but the winning streak has certainly helped his prospects.

For Fontenot, however, two straight eight-win campaigns would make it look like the team has hit a wall — especially considering Arthur Smith‘s three 7-10 seasons to begin the GM’s tenure. The Falcons’ team-building approach is under scrutiny amid Blank’s decision to bring in consultants, per Russini.

Prior to the Falcons’ historically unusual decision to sign a quarterback to a big-ticket contract only to draft his successor six weeks later, the team used three consecutive top-10 picks on skill-position players. Fontenot has seen the Kirk Cousins signing help Drake London and Kyle Pitts, — albeit while his QB2 salary (for 2025, at least) ate into the team’s ability to built out its roster this year — while Morris consistently touts Bijan Robinson as the NFL’s best player, but the moves have not made a considerable difference in the win column.

The Falcons also struggled for years to find a pass rusher, memorably choosing Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall last year and tabling the need. But the team did rectify that in this year’s draft, adding Jalon Walker and James Pearce. The Falcons enter Week 18 second in the NFL with 53 sacks. Penix, though, was erratic in his second season.

To obtain that Walker and Pearce, Fontenot traded the Falcons’ 2026 first-round pick. A team has sacrificed a future first-rounder for a pass rusher on draft weekend only a handful of times over the past 30 years, and the Rams are positioned to hold a high draft choice as a result. Blank greenlighting that move only to fire Fontenot a year later will be an interesting decision, but the Falcons’ struggles turning the corner has certainly tested the owner’s patience.

The Penix move also came a year after the Falcons sat on their hands at quarterback, refraining from pursuing an upgrade and handing the job to 2022 third-round pick Desmond Ridder. The Ridder development helped lead to Smith’s ouster. Fontenot was also believed to have played a role, alongside team president Rich McKay, in dissuading Blank from hiring Bill Belichick to replace Smith in 2024. The coach that did land the job would be expected to make changes if he retains it, but Morris could see this late winning streak spare him.

While staff changes would undoubtedly come if the Falcons retain Morris, how their organizational structure looks if/once Fontenot is fired will be something to monitor. The Falcons are believed to have increased Fontenot’s responsibilities upon moving McKay away from a day-to-day role in 2024. McKay has been with the franchise since 2003. McKay played a central role in Atlanta’s 2024 HC search and had remained close with Morris from their days in Tampa. He and Morris may be left to pick up the pieces while Fontenot — hired from the Saints — lands elsewhere south of the GM tier.