By Samir Ajy
With just five games remaining in the Atlanta Falcons’ 2025 campaign, the team’s future is indeed in
limbo, due in large part to the fact that there is no clear answer on who will be calling the shots for them
on the sideline and in the front office, with the job statuses of head coach Raheem Morris and general
manager Terry Fontneot up in the air, as recently confirmed by well-respected ESPN NFL insider Jeremy
Fowler: “What I have been told is that (Arthur) Blank respects Morris a lot, so I don’t expect a rash decision one way or the other. Any sort of in-season move would be a mild surprise from my view. While there’s at least some smoke around this job, this feels far from finalized,” Fowler explained in a recent ESPN article. Fowler’s report indeed confirms that nothing is finalized in either direction, and Morris’ status as the team’s head coach will likely depend on how Atlanta finishes yet another disappointing season. It may not have been the news Falcons fans were looking for, but it is on par with how Blank, one of the league’s most patient owners, has traditionally run things. When the team’s last three head coaches
were on the hot seat (Mike Smith, Dan Quinn, and Arthur Smith), Blank allowed the season to play out
before making a decision. A blowout loss to the Carolina Panthers at the Georgia Dome in 2014, with the
NFC South division title on the line, sealed Mike Smith’s fate. In 2019, Dan Quinn bought himself an extra
year, thanks to a 6-2 finish after a 1-7 start. In 2023, after a 4-3 start, a 3-7 finish, and the mishandling of
the quarterback position cost Arthur Smith his job hours after an embarrassing loss to the Saints in New
Orleans.
If nearly all Falcons fans, including myself, had their way, the house cleaning would have happened
weeks ago, not only for Morris, but for Fontenot and longtime executive Rich McKay, who is Blank’s
right-hand man and has been involved in every significant decision the team has made over the last two
decades- a lot more bad than good. Morris is now 33-55 all-time as a head coach in the NFL. There is
more than enough evidence that proves he is not capable of leading an NFL team. From lying about
injuries to throwing people under the bus, to cartoonishly inept in-game decisions and clock
management, everything you need to see is there, and under no circumstances should he be back next
year.
However, there is one and ONLY ONE acceptable argument in favor of retaining this regime: the team’s
overall outlook. For starters, there is STILL a huge unknown at quarterback. Michael Penix Jr, who has
only 12 starts as an NFL quarterback under his belt, suffered his third torn ACL since 2018. Kirk Cousins
will more than likely not be on the roster, due to the nearly $60 million cap hit the team would endure to
keep him. Also, the Falcons will not own their first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, which will likely be a
top-10 pick, depending on how Atlanta finishes. That being said, James Pearce Jr. and Xavier Watts are
looking like defensive cornerstones Atlanta can build around. Moreover, with Cousins’ contract still on
the books regarding guaranteed money, the Falcons will not have a significantly favorable amount of cap space until 2027 without restructuring contracts and/or making tough roster cuts, and let’s face it: the
Falcons’ roster, while talented, is not yet ready to contend in a crowded NFC.
This ushers in the reasoning behind that argument. Atlanta may have a difficult time attracting the top
head coach/general manager candidates this cycle if a move is made. Therefore, is the next best
alternative simply treating 2026 as a lame-duck season? That way, when you inevitably clean house, the
incoming regime will have nearly $130 million projected in cap space to play with, alongside what could
likely be another early draft pick, giving them a better chance at the top or second-best candidates for
your vacancies, compared to possibly the fourth and fifth best in this year’s cycle. As mentioned earlier, if
I had my way, that decision would have been made weeks ago, and what I am proposing is the LONE
argument one can make in their favor. Once again, nothing will likely be set in stone until after Week 18,
depending on how the year finishes for Atlanta.
For the overwhelming majority of Falcons fans who want to see change, here is a bit of good news: three
of the team’s final five games are against the 9-3 Los Angeles Rams, 9-3 Seattle Seahawks, and 7-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who beat the Falcons Week One in Atlanta and will be healthier when they host
next week’s Thursday Night matchup. The Falcons will also play the Cardinals, who have gone 1-9 since
their 2-0 start and have benched Kyler Murray, while hosting the lowly 2-10 New Orleans Saints to close
out this season. Even then, Atlanta has not won in Glendale since 2001, and as every Falcons fan knows,
win-loss record has zero meaning in any game against the hated Saints. Therefore, the Falcons may finish
0-5, and this argument will more than likely fall outside any realm of possibility.
