With six head-coaching openings in the NFL, and possibly more, Bill Belichick’s name will be mentioned publicly for one or more of the jobs. Whether he’s privately considered for any of them remains to be seen.
Appearing on the Let’s Go! podcast, Belichick was asked by host Jim Gray whether Belichick is interested in returning to the NFL.
“Nothing’s changed,” Belichick said. “I’m where I was a month ago. I’m here at North Carolina. I really appreciate the love and support that we’ve gotten from the community down here, from the school, from Chancellor Roberts, the ADs, Bubba Cunningham, Steve Newmark, working with Mike Lombardi and our staff here. We’re building a good program and I’m excited about the direction we’re headed in.”
It wasn’t a “no.” But it’s not relevant until someone wants to talk to him.
Since being fired two years ago, he has had one interview, with the Falcons. The Falcons are looking again, with a clean slate (for now) in the front office.
Would owner Arthur Blank want to give Belichick another look, periodic trolling by Jordon Hudson notwithstanding? While it’s unclear where his coaching skills currently reside (e.g., would Belichick put a defensive coach in charge of the offense?), we’re confident that Belichick wouldn’t have given $100 million guaranteed to Kirk Cousins before using a top-10 pick on Michael Penix Jr. if he’d been the Atlanta coach in 2024.
Belichick is currently on the board for five existing vacancies: +4000 for the Giants, +8000 for the Titans, +4000 for the Browns, +1200 for the Falcons, and +1600 for the Raiders. (DraftKings doesn’t have odds for the Cardinals’ job, for some reason.)
A team will first need to be interested in Belichick. And he’d need to be interested in the team. (Belichick expressed to Gray disdain for teams that use search firms, which could make the search firm running the Falcons’ search less inclined to seek him out.)
Last year, when it became clear to Belichick that he wouldn’t get a job in the 2025 cycle, he went to North Carolina. Lombardi thereafter questioned whether there are any good jobs in the NFL, while also explaining that he and Belichick prefer working in college football.
Most of the jobs that come open are open for a reason. Still, if Belichick wants to catch Don Shula for the all-time wins record, no number of victories at UNC will matter.
Matt Ryan is not the only candidate for Atlanta’s new president of football position.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, the Falcons have put in a request to interview 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams.
Williams is finishing his 15th season in the NFL, all of which he’s spent with San Francisco. He joined the team in 2011 as an assistant in the club’s scouting department and worked his way up.
He is completing his second year in his current position after spending the previous two years as a national scout. He was an area scout from 2017-2021.
The Falcons are operating without a head coach or a General Manager after firing Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot at the end of the season, but they’ve still reportedly worked out a modified contract with quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Field Yates of ESPN.com reports that Cousins has agreed to a reworked deal that moves $32.9 million of his non-guaranteed $35 million salary from 2026 to 2027. They also added a vesting guarantee for the $67.9 million he’s now due in 2027 to March 13 of this year. Cousins still has a guaranteed $10 million roster bonus for 2026 in his current deal.
It’s unlikely that the Falcons or anyone else would pay Cousins that $67.9 million, which means he’d likely work out a new contract with the Falcons or have a deal in place with a team he agrees to be traded to — Cousins has a no-trade clause — at the start of the new league year.
Should neither of those things happen, the Falcons could release Cousins with a post-June 1 designation to spread out the remaining cap hit over the next two years. Lowering Cousins’ salary would allow the Falcons to realize more 2026 cap savings without waiting until June if he does wind up getting released.
More clarity on Cousins’ future in Atlanta should come once the team has hired the new decision-makers in the coming weeks.
Matt Ryan is getting closer to having a new job.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Ryan is set to interview with the Falcons later this week — either Thursday or Friday — for their newly created president of football role.
It’s been reported that the former Falcons quarterback was in discussions to join the team’s front office, with Ryan also looking to keep his TV job on CBS.
While it would be an upset if Ryan did not land the job at this point, Atlanta will have to be compliant with the Rooney Rule to officially hire Ryan for the position.
The No. 3 overall pick of the 2008 draft, Ryan played 14 seasons for the Falcons from 2008-2021 before concluding his playing career with the Colts in 2022.
The Falcons requested interviews with a couple of head coaching candidates on Monday and they’re getting the ball rolling on their General Manager search as well.
According to multiple reports, they have requested an interview with Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham.
Cunningham has been a candidate for multiple vacancies around the league in recent years and was considered a finalist for the Commanders’ opening in 2024. He has spent the last four seasons with the Bears and worked for the Eagles and Ravens before joining GM Ryan Poles in Chicago.
Poles played college football at Boston College with Matt Ryan, who is expected to be the new president of football operations in Atlanta. That connection could help Cunningham’s chances of advancing beyond the finalist stage this time around, but there will be more candidates added to the mix before the Falcons are in position to hire anyone.
