Titans Arrange Raheem Morris HC Meeting
His Falcons tenure cut short after two seasons, Raheem Morris represents a prime defensive coordinator candidate. But a report earlier today indicated the two-time NFL HC would be expected to draw interest for another top job.
The Titans will make good on that, as ESPN’s Peter Schrager reports Morris will meet with the AFC South team about its HC vacancy. The interview is scheduled for this week. Morris is among a host of candidates linked with the Tennessee job thus far; a round of interview slips went out today.
Tennessee is hoping to interview Kevin Stefanski, Matt Nagy, Steve Spagnuolo, Vance Joseph and Lou Anarumo. Morris joins Stefanski as a dismissed HC on the market. Because Morris and Stefanski are unattached, they can meet in-person with any interested team. Coaches who are tied to a team presently cannot, giving the unemployed options a leg up to start the process.
Anarumo, Joseph, Nagy and Spagnuolo can meet with the Titans starting Wednesday. Joseph can meet with the team remotely. Had the Broncos not won in Week 18, Joseph would have been unable to meet about the job until after three days after the wild-card round. Since Denver secured a first-round bye, its DC can discuss the position this week. The Titans must interview two external minority candidates to satisfy the Rooney Rule. Joseph is seen as one of this market’s top candidates; after Morris went two-and-done in Atlanta, it is difficult to gauge his standing.
Morris, 49, went 16-18 in his second Falcons stint. Overall, he is 37-56. It is fair to point out Morris has been tied to inconsistent quarterbacks throughout his coaching career. The Buccaneers’ failed Josh Freeman experiment occurred during Morris’ time leading the Tampa Bay staff, and Michael Penix Jr. struggled before going down with a season-ending injury this year. The Falcons made the atypical decision to hand out a big free agency deal (to Kirk Cousins) only to turn around and use a top-10 pick on a passer six weeks later. This made for a convoluted setup, though Morris’ staff was believed to be a key part of the Penix investment.
A defensive coach who won a Super Bowl ring as the DC for the Rams, Morris also is the rare leader with extensive experience on both sides of the ball. He coached Falcons wide receivers from 2015-19 and served as Dan Quinn‘s offensive pass-game coordinator during part of that time. This past season, the Falcons rejuvenated their pass rush; Atlanta’s 57 sacks trailed only Denver this season. That represented a remarkable turnaround, but while that occurred during a season in which the Falcons won their final four games, the team still opted to reboot and fire both its HC and GM (Terry Fontenot).
Raheem Morris HC, DC Meetings Expected
Raheem Morris guided the Falcons to back-to-back eight-win seasons. While that may not sound particularly impressive, the Falcons had won seven or fewer contests each year from 2018-23. But Morris received a pink slip Sunday night, joining GM Terry Fontenot in being removed from his position.
As could be expected, Morris should not be out of work for long. Teams in search of a head coach are expected to show interest, with The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reporting Morris is likely to be part of this year’s HC carousel. If Morris is unable to complete an immediate bounce-back bid, Russini adds DC interest is expected to emerge.
The Falcons gave Morris less time than Arthur Smith despite the latter going 7-10 in each of his first two seasons; Smith went 7-10 in Year 3 before being fired. Morris, however, did have much of the 2020 season to prove himself in Atlanta. His first stint with the team concluded with an appointment as Falcons interim HC following Dan Quinn‘s ouster. Overall, the former Buccaneers and Falcons HC is 37-56 as a head coach. That record can mostly be traced to three- and four-win seasons in Tampa (2009, ’11).
Morris, 49, had been expected to survive. The Falcons finished the season on a four-game win streak. His postgame hug with Arthur Blank became quite awkward soon after; the owner fired he and Fontenot, who had been on as GM for five years. The Falcons had hired a consulting firm, and Matt Ryan is now in play for a central role in the franchise’s front office. These developments left Morris out of the picture.
Prior to returning to Atlanta, Morris had won a Super Bowl as Rams DC. At the controls when the Rams downed the Bengals to claim their first title in 22 years, Morris burnished his candidacy by helping the team transition amid a 2023 retooling effort. Morris’ defensive rankings in Los Angeles do not match those of Chris Shula or Brandon Staley, with the unit topping out at 15th in scoring during his tenure, but he did help steer a Falcons turnaround this year. Having major pass-rushing issues for most of the past decade-plus, the Falcons revitalized that area — after first-round picks of Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. — and finished with 57. Only the Broncos (68) produced more this season.
While Morris receiving a third chance after only producing one winning season in five full-time HC years may be a stretch, it would surprise if he did not at least land a DC opportunity this year. The Rams could potentially come calling, should Shula follow Morris and Staley as a Sean McVay DC to become a head coach.
Falcons Fire HC Raheem Morris, GM Terry Fontenot
The first firing announcement comes out of Atlanta, where, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, head coach Raheem Morris has officially been fired. Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports quickly followed up the coaching announcement with a report that general manager Terry Fontenot has also been removed from his position.
In a statement, team owner Arthur Blank gave an explanation of today’s transactions.
“I have great personal affinity for both Raheem and Terry and appreciate their hard work and dedication to the Falcons,” he began. “But I believe we need new leadership in these roles moving forward. The decision to move away from people who represent the organization so well and have a shared commitment to the values that are important to the organization is not an easy one, but the results on the field have not met our expectations or those of our fans and leadership. I wish Raheem and Terry the absolute best in their future pursuits.”
Additionally, the team’s statement mentioned that they would use two different search firms to help fill the two jobs. ZRG Partners will assist Atlanta on their head coach search while Sportsology Group will assist with the search for a new general manager. Sportsology was already being utilized to perform a full assessment of the team’s football operations. It seems their evaluation was valued, as it led to Fontenot’s dismissal and further work to assist with the job to replace him. No timelines were proposed for the searches, but both will begin immediately and run concurrently.
Blank seems to be growing short of patience as time goes on. Before Morris, Mike Smith held the head coaching job for seven seasons. Dan Quinn only lasted six after that, Arthur Smith three, and Morris just two. The team’s quick response to act all comes naturally at this point as the organization will undergo it’s fourth head coaching search in seven years. The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson reports that, behind the scenes, discussions on resetting the team’s structure have been going on for weeks now.
Voices around the league seemed to be pointing toward a departure from Fontenot, but sources also believed that Morris was likely to be retained in his position. A longtime assistant with the Falcons, Morris spent six years as assistant head coach while coaching various position groups before getting promoted to defensive coordinator in 2020. He stepped up into the interim head coaching job when Quinn was fired and went 4-7 in his first time back in the captain’s chair since his time with the Buccaneers back in 2011.
The Falcons did not choose Morris to take over the full-time head coaching gig, instead hiring Arthur Smith to the job. Morris returned to Atlanta after three years as defensive coordinator for the Rams, replacing Smith when he was fired after three straight 7-10 seasons. In his two years back at the helm, Morris improved on Smith’s streak, if only barely, recording two 8-9 campaigns, the first resulting in a second-place division finish and the second resulting in a three-way tie that ended with a third-place finish in the NFC South.
In order to force the three-way tie, the Falcons had to win their last four games, an impressive close to the season. These marked the Falcons’ only two eight-win seasons during their eight-year playoff drought, but this one enough to save Morris’ job.
Multiple players, including wide receiver Drake London and running back Bijan Robinson, were vocal in support of Morris before his dismissal, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Robinson specifically said he was “going to support Raheem no matter what” but that it’s “Arthur Blank’s decision” (via Josh Kendall of The Athletic). There’s plenty of room for criticism of the move as a bit early. Several coaches with worse results have been given longer leashes in NFL history, and Morris’ short leash came with handicaps from questionable draft and free agency decisions by Fontenot that left him with awkward quarterback situations.
Many are pointing to Fontenot’s failure to solve the team’s quarterback issues as the cause for his departure. With Fontenot as GM in Atlanta for five seasons, the Falcons went 36-48 during his tenure. Despite the clear signs that former franchise quarterback Matt Ryan was in the twilight years of his career, Fontenot failed to address the position in his first draft. The only player from that first draft class to really impact the team was first-round tight end Kyle Pitts, who still delivered a few disappointing seasons over his rookie deal. The Falcons then traded Ryan to Indianapolis and drafted Desmond Ridder in the third round of 2022’s draft, which also yielded them London and running back Tyler Allgeier. 
After Ridder failed to establish himself as a starter, as the Falcons had stood down rather than add an outside option in 2023, Fontenot and the Falcons signed Kirk Cousins to a huge four-year, $180MM deal with the understanding that they would not draft a first-round quarterback to stash behind him. About six weeks later, Fontenot and the Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. in the first round to stash behind Cousins without notifying Cousins or his representation that they would be doing so.
Morris and the coaching staff were believed to have played a role in the QB double-up, becoming impressed with the left-handed QB. The Falcons spent two years shuffling a sometimes-injured, struggling Cousins with a sometimes-injured, struggling Penix, putting them in the situation they now find themselves.
The Morris hire came as Fontenot and CEO Rich McKay were believed to have played roles in swaying Blank away from hiring Bill Belichick. Neither were believed to have wanted to work with the former Super Bowl-winning HC. Politics partially played a part in the Falcons moving to Morris, who worked under McKay in Tampa. Morris was well-liked in the building stemming from his first go-round in Atlanta, but his HC stint ended up not even lasting as long as his Bucs stay. Following the Morris hire, Fontenot secured more organizational power as McKay stepped back from day-to-day operations.
Fontenot’s drafting seemed to show some improvements, especially with some successful defensive picks this past year, but it was mostly first- and second-rounders making an impact from each class. Regardless, through Fontenot’s five seasons, the Falcons failed to see a single winning campaign, let alone a trip to the playoffs. The two won their final game with the team, were seen celebrating in the locker room with the players, then were called to meet with Blank a couple hours later to be delivered the bad news, per D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
There’s obviously no news to report so soon after the dismissals of the two team leaders, but The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman sees Morris having potential looks at defensive coordinator jobs in the offseason. Anderson reports that Ryan, the team’s former franchise quarterback, has been an “active” voice in the building already, with some starting to link his name to the now open general manager position.
Falcons Leaning Toward Retaining Raheem Morris, Firing GM Terry Fontenot
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.
Falcons Owner Arthur Blank To Evaluate Atlanta’s Football Ops For Rest Of Season
JANUARY 3: As part of his evaluation process, Blank has brought in the consulting firm Sportsology (which has worked with NFL teams in the past). Dianna Russini of The Athletic notes (subscription required) Rick Smith has played a role in Sportsology’s ongoing Falcons audit. The former Texans GM was among those who interviewed for Atlanta’s most recent vacancy before Fontenot was ultimately hired.
DECEMBER 13: After another disappointing year from the Falcons, major changes could be coming in Atlanta this offseason.
Owner and chairman Arthur Blank will spend the rest of the season evaluating the team’s football operations, including head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The Falcons were already eliminated from the playoffs before their Kyle Pitts-driven win over the Buccaneers on Thursday night. However, their Week 14 loss to the Seahawks locked in their eighth losing season in a row. Atlanta finished with an 8-9 record in 2024, their first year under Morris, but the team’s lack of improvements this year have raised doubt about his future. The same is true of Fontenot, who is in his fifth year as GM without much year-to-year progress.
Of the two, Fontenot feels more likely to leave Atlanta this offseason. He has struggled to find starters in the draft and does not have a strong record outside of the first round, though he has built a strong offensive line over the years. Fontenot also drove the Falcons’ controversial quarterback moves in the 2024 offseason. He signed Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $160MM deal with $90MM fully guaranteed and drafted Michael Penix with the eighth overall pick less than two months later.
Individually, both decisions were questionable, but together, they set up a difficult dynamic in Atlanta. Cousins was surprised by the Penix pick, which immediately put a clock on his time with the Falcons. The veteran quarterback played well to start the 2024 season, but a rough stretch of five games in the second half inspired an earlier-than-expected transition to the rookie. Penix showed some flashes in his three starts and entered 2025 as the clear starter while Cousins attempted to force an offseason move out of Atlanta.
Fontenot then made another controversial decision in the 2025 draft by trading up from the second round to select edge rusher James Pearce Jr. with the 26th overall pick despite already adding Jalon Walker at No. 15 overall. He gave up a bevy of picks in the deal, including second- and third-rounders in 2025 and a first in 2026, which could be a top-10 pick.
Morris has not led the Falcons to the immediate success for which Blank was likely hoping, but his team has been decimated by injuries this season, especially on offense. Right tackle Kaleb McGary suffered a leg injury in training camp that knocked out the left-handed Penix’s blind side blocker for the entire season. Penix then went down with a season-ending injury after nine starts, and Drake London has missed multiple games, too.
The Falcons had a decent start to the year with a 3-2 record on the back of a defense that didn’t allow more than 300 yards of total offense in that five-game span. Atlanta then lost five straight, a stretch that included some rough defensive showings and ended with Penix’s injury. The result was a season that fell well short of Blank’s expectations and will spur plenty of conversations in Atlanta about the futures of Morris and Fontenot. Giving Morris another year to see what he can do with a healthier roster makes sense, but Blank may be running out of patience with Fontenot’s inability to build a competitive roster.
Falcons’ Raheem Morris Still On Hot Seat
While Raheem Morris’ second stint as Falcons HC is only finishing Year 2, the organization has had much more time to evaluate him due to a lengthy stay the first time around. Morris was on Dan Quinn‘s staff for five years before being tabbed interim HC for much of the 2020 season.
The Falcons are winding down their eighth straight season without a playoff berth, moving Morris onto a hot seat. A report from early December pointed to Atlanta making another HC change, but the team has since won three straight games. The Falcons have beaten the Buccaneers, Cardinals and Rams, but they are still guaranteed to finish with a losing record. This belated resurgence notwithstanding, Morris may not have done enough to save his job, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler.
[RELATED: How Will Falcons Proceed With Morris, Terry Fontenot?]
Arthur Blank, who drew considerable scrutiny after backing off his initial Bill Belichick preference to hire Morris, has hired a consulting firm and is evaluating his football operations after the 4-9 start. Blank gave Arthur Smith three seasons — all with 7-10 records — and fired Quinn after a slow start followed two straight playoff absences. A defensive coach who did spend time on the offensive side of the ball during his first Atlanta stint, Morris has overseen a significant pass-rushing improvement this season — as Atlanta’s 53 sacks are second in the NFL — but the bottom line has not moved much.
If Morris is retained, Fowler adds major staff changes would be expected. The team did not see Michael Penix Jr. take a step forward this season. Erratic play preceded the second-year passer’s season-ending injury. Zac Robinson, a coveted OC candidate in 2024, may not reach a third season in Atlanta regardless of Morris’ status. And Fowler adds the Falcons’ special teams issues could lead to a change. Marquice Williams has been in charge of Atlanta’s ST units for the past two seasons.
Morris will have the chance to state his case, per The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson. The past three games have certainly shown the team has not quit on its HC, but Morris is 36-56 as a coach — counting his Bucs tenure and interim year post-Quinn. The Falcons’ struggles late under Quinn and through Smith’s tenure may not be doing Morris any favors, as he is the one presiding over a playoff drought that only tops the Jets’ 15-season skid among active streaks.
Fontenot’s convoluted quarterback strategy from 2024 has hamstrung Morris, given Kirk Cousins‘ salary as a primary backup, but Cousins’ presence has also ended up helping in a healthier season for the aging QB. Cousins has piloted the Falcons to more wins than Penix did, going 4-3 as a starter. That may be damning at this point, as the primary objective for this season — beyond snapping the playoff drought — was developing the former No. 8 overall pick. Morris’ staff also was seen as a key driver for drafting Penix in 2024.
As a result of all this, Morris is fighting for his job in Week 18. Morris went 8-9 last season and could match that this year; the Falcons were coming off six consecutive seasons with seven wins or less when he was hired. Still, they have been unable to snap their postseason drought despite playing in what has been the NFL’s worst division during this span. A blowout loss to the rival Saints sunk Smith two seasons ago; will Morris be able to survive regardless of this New Orleans result?
Poll: How Will Falcons Proceed With HC Raheem Morris, GM Terry Fontenot?
Entering the 2025 season, expectations were elevated for the Falcons. The first full year with Michael Penix Jr. atop the quarterback depth chart coupled with a renovated defense brought with it the possibility for a return to the playoffs.
Atlanta’s most recent winning season came in 2017. Since then, the team has been mired in mediocrity (at best) while struggling through the post-Matt Ryan era. That stretch will continue through the end of 2025, a season in which improvements in some areas on defense have taken place. Nevertheless, the fate of head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot remains unclear as the campaign winds down.
Owner Arthur Blank is in the process of evaluating the Falcons’ football operations. He will continue to do so through the remainder of the season before deciding on any changes along the sidelines and/or in the front office. The veteran owner offered an endorsement of both Morris and Fontenot in August, but things have not gone according to plan since then.
Injuries to Penix – a well-documented concern in his case upon entering the NFL – and others on offense have hindered the Falcons on that side of the ball. The team’s defense has, on the other hand, enjoyed a resurgence in the pass rush department after years of struggling on that front. That is of course thanks in large part to the pair of first-round rookies the Falcons have along the edge.
After drafting Jalon Walker last April, Fontenot traded back into the Day 1 order to select James Pearce. As a result of the move, Atlanta’s 2026 first-rounder (which could very well end up being a top-10 pick) will belong to the Rams. That is an illustration of how far the Falcons have fallen short of expectations this year.
Fontenot drew criticism for the team’s succession plan – or lack thereof – once Ryan’s Atlanta tenure ended. Efforts were made to add short- and long-term stability under center last spring when the Penix selection was preceded by the Kirk Cousins signing. Eyebrows were raised at how Atlanta handled the situation, and since being benched late last season Cousins has been the subject of speculation regarding his future.
The four-time Pro Bowler’s contract makes a trade unlikely, although Penix’s injury highlights the need for veteran depth of some kind. Still, Fontenot’s track record (five years and counting with a mark no better than 8-9) could lead to a reset and a new voice being trusted to sort out Atlanta’s direction at the QB spot moving forward. Likewise, Morris is not viewed as being on solid footing.
Atlanta reunited with the 49-year-old during the 2024 hiring cycle, doing so after taking a long look at Bill Belichick. The Falcons managed to win on Sunday, but that only moved their 2025 record to 5-9. Morris thus has an overall mark of 35-56 as a head coach taking into account his time in Tampa Bay along with his interim HC stint with Atlanta in 2020. The decision this past offseason to replace defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake with Jeff Ulbrich has not yielded the desired improvement in many categories on that side of the ball. Given Morris’ defensive background, that could prove to be a factor working against him.
A report from earlier this month indicated a head coaching change this offseason is essentially considered inevitable. No public developments since then have suggested Morris is any likelier to be retained or fired, and the final two games of the season could sway Blank’s thinking. There are currently two HC openings around the NFL, but more vacancies will no doubt emerge after the regular season ends.
Whether or not the list of openings on the sidelines and/or in the front office winds up including Atlanta will be one of the team’s central storylines through the coming weeks. Fontenot had a lengthy spell with the Saints before taking his first GM gig in Atlanta. Morris, meanwhile, has drawn praise for his work as a defensive coordinator and another DC gig could await him in the event he were to be dismissed by the Falcons for a second time.
How do you see the team proceeding on this front? Vote in PFR’s latest poll and have your say in the comments section.
Falcons’ Raheem Morris ‘As Good As Gone’?
The Falcons famously chose Raheem Morris over Bill Belichick in their January 2024 head coaching search. While it’s anyone’s guess how the Falcons would have fared under Belichick, the team has disappointed with Morris at the helm. The Falcons dropped to 4-9 last Sunday with a lopsided loss to the Seahawks. They’ve won just 12 of 30 games since the beginning of last season.
Including a three-year run with the Buccaneers and a previous stint as the Falcons’ interim choice, Morris is 33-56 as a head coach in the NFL. The 49-year-old’s .371 winning percentage ranks last among active head coaches, Josh Kendall of The Athletic notes. It now appears Morris’ time in Atlanta is running out, according to the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora, who writes that he’s “as good as gone.”
While that may prove true when the Falcons’ season wraps up in four weeks, Morris insists he still has the backing of owner Arthur Blank.
“Support is not an issue. He is absolutely outstanding,” Morris said of Blank (via Kendall). “His ability to listen to us, be there for us, be in it with us is 100 percent awesome.”
For his part, Morris is continuing to stick with his coaching staff. He’s not planning to make any changes this late in the season, saying they’re “irrelevant” at this point. It’s something Morris plans to evaluate after the season, though it’s up in the air whether he’ll continue in his current post.
Whether it’s Morris or someone else in 2026, Atlanta’s head coach will face an uphill battle in turning around a franchise that just extended its playoff drought to eight years. For one, the Falcons have major questions at quarterback after second-year man Michael Penix Jr. suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 11.
Penix, the initial first-round pick of the Morris era, didn’t perform particularly well during his first 14 NFL games. He also has a long-running history of serious injuries dating back to college, and it’s unknown if he’ll be ready for the beginning of the 2026 campaign. The Falcons are unlikely to retain struggling backup Kirk Cousins and his bloated contract next year, which means they’ll have to pick up QB insurance during the offseason.
Adding to the Falcons’ problems, they aren’t in position to address any needs in the first round of next year’s draft. General manager Terry Fontenot traded the team’s top 2026 selection to the Rams last spring. That move enabled the Falcons to grab edge rusher James Pearce 26th overall. Pearce has racked up a team-leading six sacks as a rookie, but the first-rounder the Falcons surrendered for him is on pace to end up in the top 10. The Rams – not Morris or his potential successor – will reap the benefits of that pick.
Falcons Owner Arthur Blank Endorses GM Terry Fontenot, HC Raheem Morris
In early April, a few weeks prior to this year’s draft, Falcons owner Arthur Blank addressed the status of general manager Terry Fontenot. At the time, Blank did not offer a public vote of confidence, though he did stop short of describing the 2025 season as a make-or-break year for the front office boss.
After his club’s second training camp practice last week, Blank expressly endorsed both Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris, who is entering his second season as Atlanta’s full-time HC.
“I definitely think we have the right people,” Blank said (via ESPN’s Marc Raimondi). “I think they continue to demonstrate that, I think, during this offseason, and how they built during free agency and particularly decisions … in the draft. And I think continuing to reflect on the coaching staff, making some changes on the coaching staff. And if the emperor has no clothes, you’ve got to say the emperor has no clothes. And I think our leadership team has done that, and I think that’ll make us better.”
Blank said in April that the Falcons needed to focus on the defensive side of the ball in the draft, and his most recent comments suggest he is pleased with Fontenot’s decision to select edge rusher Jalon Walker with the No. 15 overall pick and then aggressively trade back into the first round to land another EDGE, James Pearce Jr. Atlanta’s attempts to bolster its pass rush in recent years have not yielded consistent results, and Blank appreciates the concerted effort to address the team’s biggest weakness (which also included adding Leonard Floyd and Morgan Fox in free agency).
The 82-year-old owner also seems to respect the difficult decision Morris had to make in cutting ties with former defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake and replacing him with Jeff Ulbrich.
“My feeling … is that we’re in a better place now, teamwise, coachingwise, totally across the board than we’ve been in a number of years,” Blank said. “And so, I look forward to the season and a different set of results at the end of the season.”
Blank has long touted the importance of front office and coaching continuity, so it is not surprising that, despite having failed to deliver a postseason berth since assuming the GM post in 2021, Fontenot is still in the fold. But in second-year passer Michael Penix Jr., the team finally has the player it realistically hopes will be the long-term successor to Matt Ryan. If Penix should struggle, and if the Falcons miss the playoff bracket again, it would be fair to wonder about the job security of Fontenot and Morris, regardless of Blank’s feelings on continuity.
For now, however, Blank is striking an optimistic tone while openly backing his top power brokers.
Matt Judon, Bears Had Preliminary Contract Talks; More On Judon’s New England Exit
As we learned shortly after the Patriots agreed to trade contract-year edge defender Matt Judon to the Falcons last month, both Atlanta and the Bears offered New England a third-round draft choice in exchange for Judon. At that point, Judon was given the choice of which team he wanted to play for, and he chose the Falcons.
According to Albert Breer of SI.com, Judon was intrigued by the possibility of playing for Chicago, and he and the club did engage in preliminary contract talks. However, in the player’s view, the commitments that the Bears already have on the books for 2025 made it likely that he would only be with the team for the upcoming season.
While Judon indicated that he would not seek an immediate extension from Atlanta as he did from New England – saying that “the Falcons know nothing about me as a football player or as a man” – he can at least foresee a multiyear stay with the Falcons. Interestingly, as OverTheCap.com indicates, the Bears actually are projected to have the eighth-most cap room in the league in 2025, while the Falcons have the sixth-least.
On the other hand, Chicago is already tethered to a contract for a high-end edge rusher (Montez Sweat), whereas Atlanta has no such deal on its books. Speculatively speaking, perhaps the Sweat contract – along with the convincing sales pitch that Breer says Falcons head coach Raheem Morris gave to Judon about his role in the team’s defense – is what tipped the scales in Atlanta’s favor.
Even though New England extended Judon the courtesy of choosing between the two teams that extended acceptable trade proposals, Breer said on a recent appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub that the Patriots’ coaches and front office personnel “were just sick of” Judon (video link). The lack of a resolution to Judon’s contract situation – the four-time Pro Bowler was, of course, pushing for a new deal when he was still a member of the Pats – certainly played a significant role in his departure, but Breer notes that the rift went beyond finances.
Patriots staffers, per Breer, believed there was the “public-facing Judon” and the “Judon behind the scenes,” and that the latter version of the player was something of an “operator” whose “act had worn thin.” Breer said those same traits were on display during Judon’s stint with the Ravens, and that the new Pats regime – which of course has extended a number of Bill Belichick-era acquisitions this offseason – was more than willing to move on.
As Judon attempts to return to form in a platform campaign for his new club, Oshane Ximines appears to have benefitted the most from his departure. A former third-round pick of the Giants, Ximines never truly established himself with New York, and he signed with the Patriots via the veteran salary benefit this offseason. As Mike Reiss of ESPN.com notes, Ximines was viewed as a bubble player when training camp began, but the Judon trade opened up a roster spot.
Outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins, who served in the same capacity with the Giants over the last two seasons, said, “[Ximines] has been great. ame in here, learned the playbook quickly, humble approach to everything — a guy that wants to play the run, set the edge and do the dirty work. He fits right in this defense.”