The Atlanta Falcons are one of six NFL teams with a head coaching job opening and one of seven franchises needing a new general manager. As the Falcons continue to interview different candidates – Joe Brady, Eric Bieniemy, Brad Holmes, Morocco Brown and Robert Saleh – analysts continue to rank the different job openings.
CBS Sports’ Tyler Sullivan ranked the head coach vacancies from most to least desirable. Atlanta was listed as the league’s least desirable coaching destination.
His reasoning is largely due to the age of quarterback Matt Ryan and the top hit for 2021. Couple that with the Falcons now at $ 31 million above the expected salary ceiling for 2021, and every incoming candidate would be behind the eight ball of the jump . Rich McKay said candidates don’t raise any open concerns, but it’s hard to imagine this won’t be a factor in accepting a position.
McKay also said he is not willing to jeopardize the team’s future in an attempt to win now. This likely means that Atlanta will try and hold on to Ryan, if possible. The amount of dead money would handcuff the team in any reconstruction process.
The Falcons have a number of important decisions to make during the off-season, including who to select with the fourth overall pick in the 2021 design.