Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons

With the Super Bowl in the rearview and the new league year just a few short weeks away, it's time to turn the page and start thinking about the Falcons' 2026 season and what needs to happen this offseason to field a competitive team in September. James Pearce Jr's arrest may change the calculations on the team's needs this offseason, and the list of pending free agents opens up some big questions the team needs to answer while building the 2026 roster.

Atlanta Falcons rookie James Pearce Jr. allegedly crashed his vehicle into one being driven by WNBA player Rickea Jackson multiple times and struck a police officer with the vehicle while evading arrest, according to the criminal complaint obtained by ESPN from the Miami-Dade County state attorney's office. Pearce was arrested Saturday in Florida on five felony charges, including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated stalking and aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer.

I'm forever going to stand 10 toes and show why my God is Almighty and will never put me in a situation that I can't get through. Wherever you at right now in my story, STAY THERE! I never needed motivation or a pat on the back! All I ever needed was an opportunity and as long as I got breath I got that! The turtle race continues.

I'm forever going to stand 10 toes and show why my God is Almighty and will never put me in a situation that I can't get through. Wherever you at right now in my story, STAY THERE! I never needed motivation or a pat on the back! All I ever needed was an opportunity and as long as I got breath I got that! The turtle race continues.

New general manager Ian Cunningham is stepping into a less-than-ideal situation in Atlanta. On one hand, he has some terrific pieces on both sides of the ball, a reasonable amount of cap space, and a fanbase that knows that 2026 is not a year where we're going to place outsized expectations after eight straight losing seasons. On the other hand, it's a roster with a ton of holes, some very expensive commitments, and a thorny quarterback situation.

The 40-year-old has a connection to Ryan in Bears GM Ryan Poles, who was one of Ryan's teammates at Boston College. Cunningham, formerly with the Ravens and Eagles, has worked under Poles in Chicago since 2022. He has interviewed elsewhere for several promotions since then, including the Commanders' president of football operations gig in January 2024. Cunningham was a finalist for that opening, but the Commanders hired Adam Peters instead.

Ulbrich, his staff, and Atlanta's roster conspired to set the franchise record for sacks in a single season, improved in almost every defensive category you can think of, and had a rare streak of sub-200 yard passing games last season.

He was a hot name in NFL circles after coaching Joe Burrow at LSU, and was eventually hired as the offensive coordinator for the Panthers. His 2020 and 2021 seasons featured underwhelming production-not that it stopped the Falcons and others from interviewing him for head coaching vacancies in 2021-before Carolina fired him in early December 2021. He was hired as Buffalo's quarterbacks coach in 2022 and took over for fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey in 2023.

Harbaugh, 63, ranks 12th for most wins by a head coach in NFL history with 193 and guided the Ravens to a Super Bowl title in 2012. He was named the NFL's Coach of the Year in 2019. In leading the Ravens for 18 seasons, he was the second-longest active coach in the league behind Mike Tomlin, who is in his 19th season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Falcons began their search for a new "president of football" alongside their search for a new head coach and general manager, with interviews already underway. Kevin Knight breaks down the top candidates for each position, along with potential timelines for the hires at all three spots. Also some offseason talk, including the adjustment to Kirk Cousins contract and what it means for Atlanta's QB room in 2026. Fellow Falcoholics, welcome to another episode of The Falcoholic Live!

The Falcons feel like they have candidates pretty well locked in for their president of football and general manager openings, given that Matt Ryan is the widely reported favorite for the former and Ian Cunningham is the sole candidate set to be interviewed for the latter. Head coach feels a bit more wide open, and the Falcons just added an intriguing candidate to the mix.

The Falcons have another candidate for their newly-created president of football operations role: Panthers executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis. Tilis is set to interview for the role, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, though ex-Falcons quarterback appears to be a frontrunner for the position. Atlanta is nonetheless obligated to interview other candidates, who may also emerge as figures in their search for a new general manager.

Apparently, I needn't have worried that the Falcons were going to let the last few weeks of the season influence whether they kept Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot. Per NFL insiders Ollie Connolly and Josina Anderson, who in my experience has been pretty accurate in their reporting, Atlanta has "had feelers" out to potential candidates for weeks now and were going to fire both Morris and Fontenot regardless of the season's end result.

It wasn't pretty, but Falcons-Saints rarely is. It wasn't exactly a testament to this team's strength of roster or coaching, but it wasn't expected to be. What it ultimately was a win, a 2025 sweep of the Saints, and a second-straight 8-9 season locked up. The Falcons struggled offensively much of the day, which meant the defense had to step up and did. Atlanta held the Saints to 17 points-including a last minute touchdown-and the offense set up enough Zane Gonzalez field goals to win.

This has been one of the most frustrating Atlanta Falcons seasons in recent memory. Not because the lows were shocking, but because the highs kept pulling you back in. It feels like a long road to get here, full of false starts, brief surges of hope, and the familiar realization that this team was never quite ready to take control of its own story.

The Falcons sprinted out to a 21-0 halftime lead over the Rams only to blow it in the second half, before ultimately winning on a late field goal 27-24. Despite the win, the same old errors and sloppy play continued to appear throughout the night, making the game an excellent microcosm of Atlanta's 2025 issues. Kevin Knight and Allen Strk break it all down. Fellow Falcoholics, welcome to another episode of The Falcoholic Live!

I just constantly remind guys, just have fun. As stressful as football is, as much as it hurts the body, it's the most fun you're going to have in this life, I guarantee it. That's the message [Canales] constantly preaches. It's all about us. It's always going to be about us, and that's not going to change. And here we are in Week 18 ... the moment of it's all about us.

While last week's win over Tampa Bay was not Bryant's first action of the season, it was his most extensive action to date. He was forced to fill in for injured starting cornerback Mike Hughes, who has already been ruled out against the Cardinals. Stepping into the role as a starter, Bryant was repeatedly targeted by Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield.