Kevin Stefanski has made another addition to his coaching staff in Atlanta.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Falcons are hiring Alex Van Pelt as their quarterbacks coach. Van Pelt was a senior offensive assistant with the Rams during the 2025 season.
Van Pelt worked on Stefanski’s Browns staff from 2020-2023 as the offensive coordinator and he was also the quarterbacks coach in his final season with Cleveland. He was succeeded by Ken Dorsey and was replaced by Tommy Rees in 2025. Rees will also be the coordinator in Atlanta.
Van Pelt was the Patriots’ offensive coordinator in 2024 and he’s also coached quarterbacks with the Bengals, Packers, Buccaneers and Bills over the course of his coaching career.
The Falcons announced the hiring of Ian Cunningham as their new General Manager.
Cunningham, who arrives in Atlanta after four seasons with the Bears as assistant GM, will report directly to the team’s president of football, Matt Ryan.
“It was evident through our rigorous interview process that Ian was the right choice for our General Manager position,’ Ryan said in a statement. “His vision for our team and organization aligned exactly with the type of leader we were seeking to help take the Falcons to the next level. Throughout Ian’s career, including Super Bowl championships in Baltimore and Philadelphia, Ian has demonstrated the drive and focus it takes to build championship contenders and put them in the position to win games. We love his broad and deep experience across every aspect of talent evaluation and know he’s learned from some of the best in the league. Pairing him with coach [Kevin] Stefanski is exciting for us, and we can’t wait to see them bring our shared vision to life in everything we do starting right now.”
The Bears acquired four players who earned three All-Pro honors and four Pro Bowl selections during Cunningham’s time in Chicago. The 2025 Chicago offense finished sixth in the NFL in total offense, with 13 of 15 players who played at least 400 snaps acquired during Cunningham’s tenure.
“It’s truly an honor to be the General Manager of the Atlanta Falcons, and I couldn’t be more thankful to Arthur Blank, Matt Ryan, Greg Beadles, Josh Blank and the entire search committee for believing in me,” Cunningham said. “As a Falcons fan growing up in Roswell when the Dirty Birds were rolling, the Braves were on fire and the city was hosting the Summer Olympics, I lived the passion of Atlanta sports fans and I can’t wait to be part of bringing that fire and energy back to the city. It’s been incredible to build a relationship with Matt over the last several weeks and to have an immediate connection with Kevin. I can’t wait to work with both of these great football minds to put a team on the field everyone will be very excited about. We all share the same vision for what the Atlanta Falcons should and will be and it’s time to work.”
The Falcons have filled out the top of their football operation.
After hiring former Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan to serve as president of football operations and Kevin Stefanski to be the new head coach, the Falcons have hired Bears assistant G.M. Ian Cunningham as the new General Manager, per multiple reports.
Cunningham also had been considered for the job Ryan filled.
Hired by the Bears in 2022, Cunningham previously worked for the Eagles from 2017 through 2021. He spent the nine years before that with the Ravens.
Earlier this month, Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Ryan will be the primary decision maker in Atlanta. If accurate, it means that the Bears will not receive two third-round compensatory draft picks, pursuant to a Rooney Rule provision that promotes the development of minority candidates. It also means, if true, that the Bears could have blocked the move, since Cunningham won’t be a true G.M.
Regardless, the Falcons have made the hire. And the Falcons now have a three-man power structure that will be charged with reversing a playoff drought that dates back to 2017, one year after the Falcons lost Super Bowl LI to the Patriots.
The quarterback of those teams will now be calling the shots in the Atlanta front office.
The 49ers have had four defensive coordinators in four years. They will have a fifth in five years after Robert Saleh left for the Titans’ head coaching job.
The team has Raheem Morris, Joe Woods and Gus Bradley for their vacancy, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s future is uncertain after he didn’t get the team’s head coaching job, so he could become a candidate for any team looking for a defensive coordinator.
The 49ers had DeMeco Ryans as their defensive coordinator in 2021-22 before he left to become the head coach of the Texans. Steve Wilks lasted only one season before his firing, and Nick Sorensen followed for only one season before he and the 49ers parted ways. The 49ers reunited with Saleh for the 2025 season after the Jets fired him as head coach.
Now, the defense will have another new leader.
Morris was the defensive coordinator of the Falcons (2020) and Rams (2021-23) before taking over as the Falcons’ head coach. He went 8-9 in each of his two seasons before his firing earlier this month.
Woods was defensive coordinator of the Broncos (2017-18), Browns (2020-22) and Saints (2023-24). He joined the Raiders in 2025 as the team’s pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach.
Bradley was defensive coordinator of the Seahawks (2009-12), Chargers (2017-20), Raiders (2021) and Colts (2022-24). He was head coach of the Jaguars from 2013-16, going 14-48.
Falcons quarterback Michael Penix’s history of knee injuries has led to some questions about his long-term future, but Penix has found a way to make a positive out of his past experiences.
Penix tore his left ACL in November after tearing the same ligament in his right knee twice during his time in college. Penix said this week that going through previous recoveries has left him confident that he’ll be back on top of his game once he’s back on the field this year.
“It’s something I’ve done before,” Penix said, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’ve always came back stronger. I’ve always came back better. So, I don’t think anything less will happen. I feel like I’m in a good spot right now. I’m getting better each and every day. I’m just taking the rehab one day at a time.”
Penix said he’s aiming to be ready to play in Week 1, although it remains to be seen if his rehab will progress fast enough to make that a reality. How the Falcons will set up the rest of their quarterback room to guard against the possibility that Penix needs more time is something they’ll begin to work out once they have a new General Manager in place.
