Atlanta

Falcons

Engstrand was one-and-done as the Jets’ offensive coordinator after the team decided to move on once they realized they would strip him of play-calling duties. The 43-year-old coach will now oversee the Falcons’ passing game under head coach Kevin Stefanski, a role that he also had from 2022 to 2024 with the Lions. Engstrand won’t have Ben Johnson as offensive coordinator to make his passing game look good in Atlanta, but hopefully a familiar role will give him a chance to rebound following a rough year with Gang Green.

Reports consistently listed Cunningham as the favorite for this role. He also notably interviewed for the Falcons’ new president of football position before later interviewing for the general manager role. Cunningham signed on with the Ravens in 2008 as a personnel assistant and was later promoted to area scout in 2013. He became the Eagles’ director of college scouting in 2017 before taking their assistant director of player personnel job in 2019 and their director of player personnel job in 2020. He then accepted the assistant general manager role with the Bears in 2021 and has served in that role until now.

Liipfert is reportedly a finalist, alongside Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham. Both candidates completed second-round, in-person interviews today. Liipfert operates as the director of college scouting within his current role.

Cunningham previously interviewed for the Falcons’ president of football position, and has now completed two interviews for their general manager vacancy. Reports continue to list him as a favorite for this role. Texans assistant GM James Liipfert is also considered a finalist for the position.

The way the Falcons re-structured Cousins’ contract earlier in the offseason pointed to this, but Kendall also reports that Cousins could be brought back by the Falcons on a less-expensive contract. Cousins will likely have his share of suitors in the offseason despite entering his age-38 season, so it’s no lock he’d be back in Atlanta if released. Kevin Stefanski notably didn’t say much when asked about Cousins at his opening press conference earlier in the week.

The Falcons gave Robinson 366 touches in 2025, third in the league behind Jonathan Taylor (369) and Christian McCaffrey’s league-leading 413. Tyler Allgeier is a free agent and Stefanski’s teams have heavily emphasized the run. While we’re not saying that Robinson is a sure bet for an increase — it’s hard to call any player with 366 touches as “due” for more work — it does appear to at least be on the table. That would only strengthen his case to go 1.1 in most standard drafts in 2026.

Stefanski added that he thinks “you see a player on tape that can get through progressions, can layer the ball, can push the ball down the field” and said Penix is attacking his rehab from a late-season torn ACL. Stefanski was notably reluctant to dive into the future on Kirk Cousins, which could be read as a non-endorsement for his return. If Cousins doesn’t return, the Falcons may need a new bridge quarterback for the early season while Penix returns to the field. But with no first-round pick, it always made sense for the Falcons to give Penix the balance of the season to see what he could do. Alternatives with notably higher upside would appear hard to find in free agency or in the later rounds of the draft.

Stefanski ceded play-calling power to Rees down the stretch in Cleveland last year and they turned into a heavily screen-focused team with (holding back laugh) Pro Bowler Shedeur Sanders under center. We wouldn’t necessarily expect the same things next year in Atlanta since we don’t know who the quarterback will be just yet, but Rees did get a decent amount of offense out of what was a fairly weak core on paper last year.

Both will come in for second interviews this week. Cunningham has been regarded as the favorite all along and interviewed for Atlanta’s preposterously-named “president of football” job before it wound up being Matt Ryan’s gig. Liipfert clearly impressed Falcons brass in his interview last week. We’d still imagine Cunningham as the favorite here, but we’ll see how both fare in an extended sitdown with Kevin Stefanski and Ryan.

Rutenberg worked under new Titans boss Robert Saleh in New York as the team’s linebackers coach. He had previously worked with him in San Francisco before Saleh brought him to the Jets. The Falcons finished 13th in EPA per dropback allowed and 12th in passing yards per game allowed. The solid season in Atlanta and his ties to Saleh make Rutenberg the favorite to land Tennessee’s DC gig.