Jeremy Fowler, Marc Raimondi, Dan Graziano and Matt Miller reported on this story.
ATLANTA – The Atlanta Falcons cleaned house Sunday night despite finishing the season on a four-game winning streak.
The organization has fired head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot. The search to fill both positions will begin immediately and be concurrent, per the franchise.
The Falcons have not made the playoffs nor had a winning record since 2017, and owner Arthur Blank’s patience has clearly worn thin. Fontenot did not put forth a winning team in five years as GM. Morris went 8-9 in both of his seasons. The Falcons had a four-game losing streak in 2024 and a five-game losing streak in 2025.
Meanwhile, the team has still not found a successor as the franchise quarterback for Matt Ryan, who was traded away in 2021.
The Falcons have a good, young core — running back Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Drake London and edge rushers James Pearce Jr. and Jalon Walker — but the next regime will not have the benefit of a first-round pick in 2026. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is sidelined with a torn ACL and the jury is still out on whether he can be a top-flight QB. He was supposed to be the backup to Kirk Cousins, whom the Falcons signed to a $100 million deal weeks before drafting Penix. But Cousins struggled and got hurt in 2024, necessitating Penix playing at the end of his rookie season, which was sooner than expected.
National NFL reporters Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano, Falcons reporter Marc Raimondi and NFL draft analyst Matt Miller break down the moves from various angles.
Why didn’t closing with a four-game win streak save their jobs?
Fowler: Because the wins, though noble and proved that Morris hadn’t lost the locker room, were largely hollow. The Falcons needed that intensity when they were going 3-7 through the first 10 games. At that point, sources around the league expected Atlanta to make a change. The winning streak made some on the staff cautiously optimistic. But it wasn’t enough.
Why did ownership decide to fire both at the same time?
Fowler: The Falcons realized a full reset was needed. GM Terry Fontenot had been there five years without a winning record. Teams value the synergy of hiring the general manager and head coach at the same time so they can grow together. Atlanta recently hired the advisory firm Sportsology to evaluate the football operation, and it’s also exploring adding Ryan in a front office role. Those two moves scream “We need change.” So, this is Blank taking the lead to fix his building.
How big of a factor was the way the QB situation played out?
Fowler: Fairly big. The Falcons essentially got two big quarterback swings in Penix and Cousins, and neither netted much progress. Penix getting hurt — staying true to his collegiate calling card as injury prone — dinged Fontenot’s draft profile a bit.
Morris’ offense for Penix, run by Zac Robinson, wasn’t a fit in the eyes of multiple scouts and coaches who felt he needed more of a vertical attack to utilize his arm strength.
How attractive are the positions for future candidates?
Fowler: It’s one of the better jobs available. Robinson and a good offensive line will attract several of the top offensive candidates. And the defense is brimming with young talent. However, the owner is not the most patient, as he’s proving. But the Falcons are in a very winnable division in a national hub with a blank canvas to improve the on-field product in a hurry.
What are the challenges a new GM and coach will face?
Raimondi: It remains unclear who will be the team’s starting quarterback in Week 1 next season and beyond. Penix could be out until at least training camp with the torn ACL. And, by the way, this is his third ACL surgery in eight seasons. Penix tore his right ACL twice in college. On top of that, in 12 career starts, Penix has been inconsistent, and no one knows yet if he can be a franchise quarterback.
The Falcons also don’t have a first-round pick in 2026 nor a ton of cap space. Releasing Cousins with a post-June 1 designation might save them around $30 million, but there are plenty of holes to fill. Fontenot neglected the trenches for the most part, and the Falcons will need help on both lines and in the secondary.
What type of candidates will be looked at as the strongest for both positions?
Graziano: The Falcons announced they hired two search firms — one for head coach and one for GM, but that seems to totally miss the point. They need to find a person — ideally the coach — who can establish and maintain the vision and plan for the entire organization. They need to make sure the coach and the GM are in lockstep on every single decision. This is the way it works in places like San Francisco, where the 49ers hired the coach first and allowed him to pick the GM, or Jacksonville, where the coach brought in his preferred GM to work with the team president, but all three are clearly aligned.
Atlanta will need to find someone who can be the Ben Johnson to Penix’s Caleb Williams and build out the roster around the talented young quarterback. Find the coach first, ask him which GM he wants to work with, hire that guy, and watch them cook. Kevin Stefanski? Brian Flores with a solid offensive coordinator? Heck, Mike Tomlin if he becomes available? Get your guy who’s obviously A GUY and let him figure out what your organization needs to be about. There’s no other right way to do it.
How big of a detriment will not having a first-round pick be to GM candidates?
Miller: Trading the 2026 first-rounder to the Rams to get James Pearce Jr. looks like a smart move, given the rookie edge rusher’s success (his 10.5 sacks are a franchise rookie record) and the lack of top-end talent in this year’s draft class.
The Falcons’ roster is stocked with talent at running back plus a core group on defense that’s impressive, so the lack of a Round 1 pick in a draft class that has just 11 players with a true first-round grade on my board shouldn’t be a deterrent to incoming GM candidates. Sure, the rebuilding job will be a little more complicated without a first-rounder, but the Falcons could address the secondary on Day 2. I like the fit for Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad in Round 2 and Texas Tech defensive lineman Lee Hunter in Round 3.
