Falcons OLB James Pearce Jr. Arrested
Falcons edge rusher James Pearce Jr. was arrested on Saturday in Doral, Florida and booked in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. 
Booking records indicate Pearce faces two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He has also been charged with one count each of aggravated stalking and fleeing or eluding police with lights or siren. According to Pablo Hernandez of WPLG Local 10 News, Pearce was arrested after crashing his car while fleeing police.
Doral Police was dispatched to a dispute involving one man and one woman. Doral Police Chief Edwin Lopez stated the woman in question was WNBA player Rickea Jackson. Jackson, 24, was selected in the first round of the league’s 2024 draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. Pearce is alleged to have fled the scene prior to ultimately crashing and being detained.
Andy Slater of Fox Sports South Florida reports Pearce is accused of intentionally crashing his Lamborghini into Jackson’s car to prevent her from reaching a police station. It was that incident, he adds, which led to the Pearce police chase.
“We are aware of an incident involving James Pearce Jr., in Miami,” a team statement reads (h/t Josh Kendall of The Athletic). “We are in the process of gathering more information and will not have any further comment on an open legal matter at this time.”
The Falcons made a concerted effort to boost their pass rush during the opening round of the 2025 draft. After selecting Jalon Walker 15th overall, Atlanta traded back into the Day 1 order and added Pearce with pick No. 26. The arrival of both players proved highly impactful in upgrading the Falcons’ production along the edge. Pearce, 22, collected 10.5 sacks and 16 quarterback hits in 2025. Those totals helped him finish third in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
Pearce’s bond has yet to be set, according to the WPLG piece. His arrest report has not yet been made available, it adds, limiting details on the nature of the alleged incident.
Falcons, Ryan Pace Part Ways
The changes in Atlanta continue this offseason as the Falcons will see another front office staffer depart. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the team has parted ways with vice president of football operations/player personnel Ryan Pace. 
Pace first arrived in Atlanta as a senior personnel executive in 2022, rebounding after the end of his seven-year tenure as the general manager of the Bears. He had earned his first general manager opportunity after working his way through the ranks of the Saints’ front office for 14 years. Starting as an operations assistant in 2001, Pace saw promotions to scouting assistant in 2002, professional personnel scout in 2004, director of professional scouting in 2007, and director of player personnel in 2013.
In 2015, he became the NFL’s youngest general manager when he joined the Bears at 37 years old. His first few moves as GM in Chicago ended up looking pretty ugly in hindsight, as wide receiver Kevin White ended his career as one of the league’s more notorious busts. Pace followed that up two years later by drafting quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. The Trubisky pick looked decent at first, as the one-time Pro Bowler led the Bears to a 12-4 record in 2018 as second-year fourth-round picks Eddie Jackson and Tarik Cohen were both named to All-Pro teams.
The good times wouldn’t last long in Chicago, though. Overall, when Pace was paired with head coach John Fox for three years, the Bears were 14-34, and when Pace swapped out Fox for Matt Nagy, the Bears went 34-31, following up the 12-4 campaign with two straight 8-8 seasons and a 6-11 finish in 2021. They did make the playoffs in the second 8-8 season, but in both trips to the postseason, Chicago saw first-round exits. After the decline that the team experienced in the first season transitioning from Trubisky to first-round pick Justin Fields in 2021, Pace and Nagy were fired.
The subsequent move to Atlanta reunited Pace with then-general manager Terry Fontenot, with whom he had worked in New Orleans. With Fontenot getting fired a month ago, Pace’s initial connection to the team has disappeared. As new president of football Matt Ryan helps to restructure Atlanta’s leadership across the front office and coaching staff, it appears there was no place for Pace in new general manager Ian Cunningham‘s front office. Cunningham oddly has a habit of following where Pace has been, joining the Bears as assistant general manager in 2022 and landing his first GM opportunity in Atlanta, shortly before Pace’s exit.
Deadline Set For Expected Kirk Cousins’ Release
FEBRUARY 7: When the Falcons restructured Cousins’ contract a month ago, they set a pretty glaring deadline by which they would need to cut the veteran quarterback. The team shifted $35MM of 2026 base salary to 2027, increasing that year’s base salary to $67.9MM, a number that would become fully guaranteed if Cousins is still on the roster on March 13 of this year. Therefore, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Atlanta is expected to release Cousins before that date.
In speculating on Cousins’ future, Schefter relayed that, while Cousins wants to play next season, the door is open to both retirement and television. Cousins got a bit of experience on the small screen after the season while appearing on CBS’s postseason pregame show, and if he isn’t able to find a quarterback-needy team on which he can make an impact, he may just make the full-time transition to television or could just hang it all up altogether.
JANUARY 30: Though the Falcons hired one of Kirk Cousins‘ former coaches, he is still expected to be on his way out of Atlanta in early March, per Josh Kendall of The Athletic.
Cousins, 37, worked closely with new Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski during their shared time in Minnesota. Stefanski was the Vikings’ quarterbacks coach when Cousins signed with the team in 2018 and was promoted to interim offensive coordinator during the season. He held onto the gig for the 2019 season and called plays for Cousins as he passed his way to his second Pro Bowl.
However, their reunion is expected to be extremely short-lived. Cousins’ contract was recently reworked to essentially force his release before the start of free agency. The Falcons would consider re-signing Cousins’ on a cheaper deal than his current contract, but he will likely look for a clearer starting opportunity elsewhere. Michael Penix‘s ongoing recovery from knee surgery could sideline him at the start of the 2026 season, but he is expected to retake the starting job once he is healthy.
If Cousins cannot find a more appealing situation, he may opt for a return to Atlanta to once again work with Stefanski. He would start until Penix comes back on the field, and theoretically, he could play well enough to keep the starting job. That seems unlikely given his performance in the last two years, but perhaps Stefanski could reinvigorate the veteran quarterback.
Stefanski acknowledged his connection with Cousins after he was hired by the Falcons, but did not provide any insight on his future.
“Obviously, I have a previous relationship with Kirk, but I don’t know if it’s the time yet to talk about all those types of things,” Stefanski said (via Kendall). “Those conversations will come in due time.”
2026 NFL Offseason Outlook Series
Pro Football Rumors is breaking down how all 32 teams’ offseason blueprints are shaping up. Going forward, the Offseason Outlook series is exclusive to Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers, and that link provides details on how to sign up for an annual membership.
This post will be updated as more Outlooks are published.
AFC East
- Buffalo Bills
- Miami Dolphins
- New England Patriots
- New York Jets
AFC North
- Baltimore Ravens
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Cleveland Browns
- Pittsburgh Steelers
AFC South
- Houston Texans
- Indianapolis Colts
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Tennessee Titans
AFC West
- Denver Broncos
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Los Angeles Chargers
NFC East
- Dallas Cowboys
- New York Giants
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Washington Commanders
NFC North
- Chicago Bears
- Detroit Lions
- Green Bay Packers
- Minnesota Vikings
NFC South
- Atlanta Falcons
- Carolina Panthers
- New Orleans Saints
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NFC West
- Arizona Cardinals
- Los Angeles Rams
- San Francisco 49ers
- Seattle Seahawks
Falcons Announce Latest Staffing Decisions
With new head coach Kevin Stefanski and new general manager Ian Cunningham finding their place in Atlanta, the duo has slowly gone about, making decisions for how to fill out the staff. The two haven’t chosen to clean house, announcing a mixture of new hires and staffers to be retained, and that didn’t stop with the latest announcements.
First, the Falcons announced that Tokunbo Abanikanda, who served as Atlanta’s director of college scouting for the past two years, will remain in Atlanta for 2026. In fact, he’ll do so with a promotion to the title of director of scouting. Abanikanda was hired by the Falcons in 2012, four years into former general manager Thomas Dimitroff‘s 13-year tenure in Atlanta. He was retained on the staff of Dimitroff’s successor, Terry Fontenot, and has now survived the turnover to a third general manager in Cunningham.
A new hire in the front office was also announced over a week ago, when Jacqueline Roberts was named the new manager of coaching operations for the Falcons. Roberts got her start with Cleveland two years ago as an intern working with team logistics. Last year, she was promoted to coordinator of coaching logistics for the Browns, and she’ll now follow Stefanski to Atlanta for a similar role.
On the coaching side, the Falcons also saw one staffer retained and one brought from Cleveland. Senior defensive assistant Dave Huxtable was the staffer to be retained in his role on retained defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich‘s unit. A collegiate coach of 40 years, including stints as a defensive coordinator at North Carolina, UCF, Pittsburgh, and NC State, Huxtable joined the Falcons back in 2023, under then-defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen. He was retained under Nielsen’s successor, Jimmy Lake, and under Ulbrich, as well. Huxtable works with the defensive line, namely the pass rushers, and saw rookies James Pearce and Jalon Walker combine for 16.0 sacks in 2025.
The Cleveland import on the coaching staff is Michael Bearden, who was the recipient of the Browns’ Bill Willis Coaching Fellowship in 2025. Bearden spent two years as assistant wide receivers coach at Notre Dame before landing his first fellowship with the Bears in 2024. He’s now followed Stefanski to Atlanta to serve as a Falcons’ coaching fellow/offensive assistant.
Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. Expects To Be Medically Cleared By April
The partially-torn left ACL he suffered in Week 11 of the 2025 season has reportedly threatened Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. ’s availability for the start of the 2026 slate. Penix, however, has other ideas.
[RELATED: Falcons Expected To Release Kirk Cousins]
The 25-year-old signal-caller recently told Zach Klein of WSB-TV that he is already doing squats and believes he will be medically cleared by April. In light of prior reports, that would appear to be a rather optimistic timeline, but it would be a welcome development for player and team.
2026 will be a pivotal year for the Falcons, Penix, and Penix’s future earning power. He will be extension-eligible at the end of the season, and Atlanta will have to make a decision on his fifth-year option – always a lucrative proposition for quarterbacks – by May 2027. At this point, he has not yet lived up to his status as the No. 8 overall pick of the 2024 draft and has not done enough to suggest he is the Falcons’ franchise QB.
Still, multiple scouts and coaches recently opined that the club’s offense under former head coach Raheem Morris and former offensive coordinator Zac Robinson did not properly utilize Penix’s abilities, particularly his arm strength. New HC Kevin Stefanski was not able to do much with less-than-ideal quarterback situations during the 2024-25 seasons in Cleveland, but he did earn two Coach of the Year nods during his Browns tenure thanks in large part to the production he coaxed out of Baker Mayfield in 2020 and a 38-year-old Joe Flacco in 2023.
If Stefanski and new OC Tommy Rees can help Penix realize his potential, the Falcons may be able to crack the postseason for the first time since 2017. Of course, as they will be installing a new offensive system, it will be especially helpful if Penix can be on the field for OTAs and training camp.
In 12 games as an NFL starter, Penix has posted a 4-8 record. His 58.0 QBR in 2025 was 18th in the league out of 41 qualified players and placed him above passers like Jared Goff and Sam Darnold. Traditional quarterback rating was less bullish, as Penix’s 88.5 mark was below average and similar to those earned by players like Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Fields.
Falcons To Hire Tanner Engstrand
Tanner Engstrand has not needed to wait long to line up a new NFL gig. The recently-departed Jets offensive coordinator is heading to Atlanta.
The Falcons have an agreement in place to hire Engstrand as their pass-game coordinator, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. Multiple suitors were in play in this case, Rapoport adds. Engtrand will take on a key role under Kevin Stefanski for at least one season.
Last weekend, Jets head coach Aaron Glenn moved on from a number of his assistants but briefly kept Engstrand in place. At the time, it was unclear if the latter would continue with New York in a lesser capacity or move on. Engtrand and the Jets parted ways on Tuesday. That decision paved the way for this Falcons hire.
Stefanski and Engstrand have never worked together, but they will now collaborate for the 2026 campaign. Prior to his one-and-done OC stint, Engtrand spent five years as a valued member of the Lions’ staff. The 43-year-old worked as Detroit’s pass-game coordinator from 2022-24. He has also been an offensive coordinator at the collegiate level and handled OC duties for the XFL’s DC Defenders in 2019 and ’20.
As expected, Stefanski brought Tommy Rees with him from Cleveland to Atlanta as the team’s OC. Rees will call plays, but Engstrand’s title will leave him with key responsibilities on offense. Finding consistent production in the passing game will be critical for Atlanta as part of the team’s effort to rebound from a disappointing 2025 campaign. Quarterback Kirk Cousins is unlikely to still be with the Falcons by the start of next season, but the play of Michael Penix Jr. will be worth watching closely. A strong year in his regard would no doubt help Engstrand’s stock entering next year’s hiring cycle.
Mike Rutenberg ‘Leading Candidate’ For Titans’ DC Job
New Titans head coach Robert Saleh has found an offensive coordinator in Brian Daboll, but the team’s D-coordinator position remains open. That may change soon, though, as Falcons defensive pass game coordinator Mike Rutenberg has emerged as a “leading candidate” to take over as the Titans’ DC, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 reports. The Titans requested an interview with Rutenberg last week.
The 44-year-old Rutenberg is coming off his first season in Atlanta, whose pass defense ranked a respectable 13th in the NFL. The Falcons also tied for sixth with 16 interceptions, five of which came from rookie third-round pick Xavier Watts, and 11th in passer rating against (88.2).
A few weeks after his productive first season with the Falcons ended, Rutenberg could reunite with Saleh in Tennessee. The two already have a long history together that began in Jacksonville over a decade ago.
Saleh was the Jaguars’ linebackers coach in 2014, and Rutenberg was their assistant defensive backs coach. Six years later, Rutenberg worked under Saleh, then San Francisco’s defensive coordinator, as the 49ers’ passing game specialist in 2020. Saleh then brought Rutenberg with him to New York when he became the Jets’ head coach in 2021.
Rutenberg coached the Jets’ LBs through last season, Saleh’s final year on the job. Jeff Ulbrich finished the campaign as the Jets’ interim head coach after they fired Saleh in October 2024. With Ulbrich on his way out to take the Falcons’ defensive coordinator gig last offseason, Rutenberg accompanied him to Atlanta.
Since beginning his career as an intern with Washington in 2003, Rutenberg hasn’t worked as a defensive coordinator at either the pro or college levels (he coached at UCLA and New Mexico from 2006-12). Past play-calling experience isn’t a must in this case, though, with Saleh set to handle those responsibilities in 2026.
Aside from Rutenberg, here’s the small list of DC candidates Saleh has considered to replace the fired Dennard Wilson:
- Aaron Whitecotton, defensive line coach (Cowboys): Interview requested; hired as DL coach
- Al Harris, defensive backs coach (Bears): Interviewed 1/24
- Dino Vasso, defensive backs coach (Texans): Interviewed 1/24
Falcons Hire Alex Van Pelt As QBs Coach
Kevin Stefanski is bringing one of his former offensive coordinators to Atlanta. Alex Van Pelt, who worked under Stefanski in Cleveland from 2020 to 2023, will be joining the Falcons as their quarterbacks coach, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The move is now official, per a team announcement.
Van Pelt, 55, served as a senior offensive assistant for the Rams in 2025. He was the Browns’ offensive coordinator from 2020 to 2023 with the added title of quarterbacks coach in his final year. Cleveland’s offense generally ranked in the middle of the league during his tenure, though that was a significant improvement over the previous decade. Before that, he occupied a variety of roles with the Bills, Packers, Buccaneers, and Bengals, typically as the quarterbacks coach, though he was the Bills’ OC in 2009 and the Packers’ running backs coach in 2012 and 2013. For the next four seasons, Van Pelt worked closely with Aaron Rodgers, who earned three Pro Bowls and was named MVP in 2014.
After leaving Cleveland, Van Pelt served as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator in 2024 before he was hired by the Rams in 2025. New England finished as a bottom-three offense under Van Pelt, who struggled to get Drake Maye going in his rookie season. The Rams’ offense in 2025 was far more successful, but Van Pelt’s impact is harder to quantify given the presence of Sean McVay and Nate Scheelhaase in Los Angeles.
In Atlanta, Van Pelt will be tasked with continuing the development of Michael Penix Jr. He may also be asked to get a new quarterback up to speed quickly, as Penix’s availability for the start of the 2026 season is no guarantee.
Falcons To Hire Ian Cunningham As GM
The Falcons are hiring Bears executive Ian Cunningham to be their next general manager, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The team has since confirmed the news with an official announcement.
Cunningham, 40, has been Chicago’s assistant general manager for the last four years. He was a candidate for the newly created president of football operations job that went to Matt Ryan and quickly emerged as a favorite for the general manager job. He will replace Terry Fontenot, who was fired after five seasons on the job. Atlanta finished under .500 in every year of Fontenot’s tenure, which featured zero playoff berths. Falcons owner Arthur Blank fired Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris after the 2025 season with the hopes of quickly reshaping the franchise.
Hiring Cunningham is the third step in doing just that. Bringing Ryan aboard was the first, and installing Kevin Stefanski as Morris’ successor was the second. Now, the trio will head into the offseason looking to build around the Falcons’ core of exciting young players on both sides of the ball.
This marks a significant step for Cunningham, who was a finalist for the Commanders’ GM job in 2024 and the Cardinals’ position in 2023. While Adam Peters won out for the Washington gig, Cunningham is believed to have turned down an Arizona GM offer. Cunningham also emerged as a strong Jaguars GM candidate last year. Despite Ryan’s presence, the veteran exec accepted this Atlanta position and will work in helping the team turn things around.
Cunningham began his football career as an offensive lineman at the University of Virginia. He went undrafted in 2008 and signed with the Chiefs but did not make the 53-man roster. He immediately moved into a front office career as a personnel assistant with the Ravens. He contributed to Baltimore’s 2012 Super Bowl win and became an area scout the following year. His success in that role eventually attracted the attention of Howie Roseman and the Eagles, who hired him to be their director of college scouting in 2017.
Cunningham spent five years in Philadelphia with promotions to assistant director of player personnel in 2019 and director of player personnel in 2021. The Eagles consistently had strong rosters during his tenure, with three playoff berths and the franchise’s first Super Bowl victory in 2017. Though he left for Chicago in 2022, Cunningham’s fingerprints were also all over the teams that made the Super Bowl that season and won it in 2024.
In Chicago, Cunningham joined new general manager Ryan Poles and the two worked to rebuild a team that had not won a playoff game in more than a decade. After three years and a 15-36 record, their efforts finally paid off. After drafting quarterback Caleb Williams and hiring head coach Ben Johnson in back-to-back offseasons, the Bears went 11-6, won the NFC North, and beat the Packers in the wild-card round, their best finish since 2018. Their season ended the next week with an overtime loss to the Rams, but it was clear that Cunningham helped build another championship contender.
He will now attempt to do the same in Atlanta, this time as the general manager. The Falcons already have a number of pieces in place. On offense are quarterback Michael Penix Jr., running back Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Drake London, left tackle Jake Matthews, and right guard Chris Lindstrom, and the defense features edge rushers Jalon Walker and James Pearce, cornerback AJ Terrell, and safety Xavier Watts.
From there, Cunningham will work with Ryan and Stefanski to build around that young core, though he will not be able to get too aggressive right away. The Falcons are projected to have just $17.4MM in cap space entering the 2026 offseason, per OverTheCap, though Cunningham can obviously find ways to make more room. Atlanta will also be without its first-round pick in April’s draft having used it last year to trade up for Pearce.
Typically, when a team hires another team’s minority executive to be their general manager, the original team receives two third-round compensatory selections. But since Ryan is considered the Falcons’ primary football executive, the Bears will not be receiving any draft picks as a result of Cunningham’s hire, per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. That also means Chicago could have blocked the move, but the NFC North club opted not to. Instead, the Bears will begin their own search to replace Cunningham as Poles’ top lieutenant.