As widely expected, the Falcons have officially interviewed former Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan for the position of president of football operations.
It’s also widely expected that he’ll get the job.
Others have been interviewed, including Lions chief operating officer Mike Disner, Panthers executive V.P. of football operations Brandt Tilis, 49ers director of scouting and football Josh Williams, and Bears assistant G.M. Ian Cunningham.
Of course, one or more of those candidates also could be considered for the still-vacant G.M. job in Atlanta.
Ryan, the third overall pick in the 2008 draft, spent 14 years with the Falcons. He was the league MVP in 2016, leading the franchise to only its second Super Bowl appearance.
Since retiring, Ryan has worked in broadcasting. Whether his existing skills translate to running an NFL team remains to be seen.
If Ryan gets the job, he would report directly to owner Arthur Blank, and the next G.M. and head coach would report directly to Ryan.
Ryan also would exit his job at CBS, going all-in and full time with the Falcons.
However it goes, the Falcons need something to go right. They’ve gone eight years since making the playoffs. They haven’t been there since Ryan was the team’s starting quarterback.
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The Buccaneers will interview Zac Robinson for their offensive coordinator opening, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Robinson served as the Falcons’ offensive coordinator for the past two seasons.
The Falcons fired head coach Raheem Morris earlier this week. They denied the Cowboys permission to interview defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich for the same position, but they are letting Robinson interview.
The Bucs completed an interview with former Titans head coach Brian Callahan as they seek to replace Josh Grizzard, whom they fired earlier this week.
Robinson spent five seasons with the Rams, rising from assistant quarterbacks coach to passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach under Sean McVay.
The 2025 Carolina Panthers are making history. And I don’t mean the good kind.
Via NBC Sports research, the Panthers are the fifth team in NFL history to make the playoffs with a losing record in a non-strike-shortened season.
Carolina won the NFC South, winning eight and losing nine. Atlanta’s Week 18 win over the Saints triggered a three-way tie between the Falcons, Panthers, and Buccaneers at 8-9. The Panthers won the tiebreaker with the best record in the six-game round-robin among the three teams.
Other teams to make the playoffs despite a losing record were the 2022 Buccaneers (8-9), the 2020 Washington Football Team (7-9), the 2014 Panthers (7-8-1), and the 2010 Seahawks (7-9). Those teams were 2-2 in the wild-card round; the 2010 Seahawks beat the Saints in the Beastquake game, and the 2014 Panthers beat the Cardinals.
The Panthers are 10.5-point underdogs at home on Saturday against the Rams. During the regular season, the Panthers beat the Rams in Charlotte, despite being 9.5-point underdogs.
The Giants will interview Broncos special teams coach Darren Rizzi for their head coaching job on Saturday, Albert Breer of MMQB.com reports.
Rizzi is a New Jersey native.
The Giants also have interviewed or will interview former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, former Cowboys and Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, interim head coach Mike Kafka, former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris and former Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce.
Rizzi is in his first season on Denver’s staff, but he worked with Sean Payton in New Orleans before remaining with the Saints when Dennis Allen was their head coach. Rizzi became the interim head coach when Allen was fired during the 2024 season.
He went 3-5 in that role.
Rizzi began his NFL coaching career as assistant special teams coach with the Dolphins in 2009 and then spent nine years after that as the team’s special teams coach.
It was already unlikely that the NFL would place Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs on the Commissioner Exempt list (i.e., paid leave) before the Super Bowl. It’s now virtually certain it won’t happen.
Via TMZ.com, the arraignment in Diggs’s criminal case has been delayed from January 23 until February 13. That’s five days after Super Bowl LX.
Diggs’s lawyer said in a court filing that Diggs has a “previously-scheduled professional commitment” on January 23.
For now, Diggs is the subject of a criminal complaint accusing him on felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery. Last week, the NFL explained, as to pending charges against Diggs and Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore, that paid leave “may be considered following formal charges in the form of an indictment by a grand jury, the filing of charges by a prosecutor, or an arraignment in a criminal court.”
If Diggs had been arraigned on January 23, two days before the AFC Championship, things could have gotten awkward for the league, the Patriots, and Diggs.
It’s not a guarantee Diggs won’t land on the Commissioner Exempt list. On Saturday, the NFL told PFT via email that it is “not ruling anything out pending the legal process.”
“We will be closely monitoring all developments in the cases and will evaluate next steps as appropriate,” the league added.
The team has made it clear that it supports Diggs, who categorically denies the allegations from a chef he employed.
The Dolphins announced an agreement with Jon-Eric Sullivan to be their new General Manager on Friday.
Sullivan was the vice president of player personnel for the Packers and has spent the last 22 years in the Green Bay organization. He served in the vice president role for his final four years with the team.
“I could not be more excited to welcome Jon-Eric Sullivan as our next general manager. Jon-Eric brings a clear vision for how to build and run a football team, founded upon his own experience at a winning organization,” Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said in a statement. “As we went through our search process, it became undeniable the respect Jon-Eric has across the league as a talent evaluator, leader and man of integrity. We had an extremely talented group of candidates, and Jon-Eric’s ability to stand out so clearly speaks to how impressive he is — not only for his experience, but also his depth of knowledge, his detail-oriented approach and his passion. I believe we found the best of the best in Jon-Eric, and I’m looking forward to working with him as he leads us into a new era of Dolphins football.”
In his own statement, Sullivan said that “our team building process will be intentional, disciplined and sound” and stressed collaboration as an important factor. The Dolphins’ next hire will be their next head coach and that person will join Sullivan in setting the direction for the franchise.
The Commanders are promoting David Blough to offensive coordinator, according to multiple reports.
Blough has spent the past two seasons as the team’s assistant quarterbacks coach.
The Lions had shown interest in Blough, who served as a backup quarterback for Detroit for four seasons. He played under Ben Johnson, Kevin O’Connell and Kliff Kingsbury.
After he finished his playing career in 2023, Blough immediately stepped into coaching with the Commanders.
He replaces Kingsbury, whom the team fired despite the support of quarterback Jayden Daniels.
The Commanders had already lost quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard, who left during the season to become the head coach at Stanford University.
The team also fired defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr and offensive line coach Bobby Johnson.
The Commanders also interviewed Cowboys tight ends coach Lunda Wells and Cardinals passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach Drew Terrell for the job.
The Steelers saw the return of running back Jaylen Warren, who missed Thursday’s practice with an illness. He had full participation on Friday.
The team, though, added tight end Jonnu Smith to the injury report with a glute injury that limited him.
Defensive tackle Isaiahh Loudermilk returned to practice on Friday, with limited work. He remains on injured reserve as he works his way back from an ankle injury that has kept him out since Sept. 17.
Loudermilk, who was drafted by the Steelers in the fifth round in 2021, has appeared in 60 games, starting seven of them. He has totaled 64 tackles, six passes defensed, a sack and a tackle for a loss.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers (left wrist), linebacker T.J. Watt (lung), receiver Ben Skowronek (hand) and long snapper Christian Kuntz (knee) remained full participants.
Defensive tackle Cameron Heyward again was limited with another load-management day.
The Falcons have completed an interview with Ian Cunningham for their president of football position, the team announced Friday.
Cunningham has spent the past four seasons with the Bears as assistant General Manager. He previously was with the Eagles for five seasons, holding various roles such as director of college scouting (2017-18), assistant director of player personnel (2019-20) and director of player personnel (2021).
Cunningham began his NFL front office career with the Ravens in 2008 as a player personnel assistant. After five seasons in that role, he served as a southeast area scout for two (2013-14) before taking on additional responsibility as the southeast/southwest area scout from 2015-16.
The Falcons also have interviewed Lions COO Mike Disner, Panthers executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis, 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams for the job. Matt Ryan is the favorite to land the newly created position.
The 49ers list seven players as questionable for Sunday’s wild-card game against the Eagles.
Left tackle Trent Williams (hamstring) and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee/ankle) are among those with the injury designation.
Williams returned to practice on a limited basis Thursday and remained limited on Friday. Pearsall did not practice all week.
Williams tweaked his hamstring early in the Week 17 game against the Bears, and Pearsall aggravated his PCL injury in the same game. Both missed the Week 18 game against the Seahawks for the NFC West title.
Wide receiver Jacob Cowing (hamstring), linebacker Luke Gifford (quad), cornerback Renardo Green (ankle), defensive end Keion White (groin/hamstring) and linebacker Dee Winters (ankle) also were limited. Green was a new addition to the injury report on Friday.
49ers tight end George Kittle (ankle) returned to full participation on Friday and is good to go.
