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Atlanta Falcons News & Rumors

Falcons To Interview Steve Wilks For DC Job

January 15th, 2025 at 2:10pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Falcons are interviewing longtime NFL coach Steve Wilks for their vacant defensive coordinator position, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Wilks’ most recent NFL gig was as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator in 2023, where his defense ranked among the league’s top-10 in yards and points allowed. Though the 49ers made the Super Bowl, they elected to fire Wilks shortly after their loss to the Chiefs.

The 55-year-old has an extensive coaching history – mostly overseeing the secondary – starting with a 20-year career in the college ranks at schools such as Notre Dame and the University of Washington. Wilks then moved to the NFL as the defensive backs coach for the Bears (2006-2008), Chargers (2009-2011), and Panthers (2012-2016). He led Carolina’s defense to a 15-1 record and a Super Bowl appearance in his first year as defensive coordinator in 2017, setting him up to take the Cardinals’ head-coaching gig the next year.

Wilks was fired after a 3-13 debut season in Arizona and has since spent time with five college and pro teams. He was the defensive coordinator for the Browns in 2019 and the University of Missouri in 2021. In 2022, he returned to Carolina as their secondary coach and led the team to a 6-6 record as interim head coach after Matt Rhule was fired in October.

Wilks spent the 2024 season in North Carolina, serving as a volunteer advisor for the UNC Charlotte 49ers. He also interviewed for the head coaching job in Chapel Hill that ultimately went to Bill Belichick.

The Falcons seem intent on adding an experienced defensive coordinator to replace Jimmy Lake on Raheem Morris‘ staff. They already interviewed former Ravens and Giants DC Don ‘Wink’ Martindale, and ex-Bengals DC Lou Anarumo is on tap for Thursday. Atlanta may have to move quickly to secure their desired candidate, as both Anarumo and Wilks are expected to interview with the Colts for their defensive coordinator job, too.

Wink Martindale Interviews For Falcons’ DC Job, To Meet With Colts; Bengals On Radar

January 14th, 2025 at 2:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

After a year out of the NFL, Wink Martindale is squarely on the radar to return. Two teams have set up interviews with the veteran defensive coordinator, while a third could be eyeing the Michigan DC.

The Falcons announced they have completed an interview with the former Ravens and Giants DC. Martindale is scheduled to meet about the Colts‘ job Wednesday, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports. Despite a turbulent New York exit, Martindale looks to be aiming to follow ex-Baltimore coworker Mike Macdonald by turning a one-year Ann Arbor stay into a return to the league.

In addition to Martindale’s Falcons and Colts meetings, Pelissero points out the Bengals — who fired Lou Anarumo after six seasons in that role — could have interest. Business is picking up for a coach who had previously ascended to the HC carousel. The Colts interviewed Martindale twice for the job Shane Steichen landed; Steichen will now determine if a fit will exist with one of his former competitors.

Martindale’s most recent NFL act certainly caught interest. After the Giants fired two of his lieutenants, Martindale stormed into Brian Daboll’s office and resigned his post. This came after the brash DC was accused of going rogue at points during the 2023 season. Rumblings about a Martindale-Daboll separation lingered for much of that ’23 campaign, and the dustup combusted quickly. The Jaguars were the only team to interview Martindale for their DC job last year, leading him to Michigan.

The Wolverines ranked 19th in points allowed per game (19.9) this season, marking only a slight step back from Jim Harbaugh‘s unbeaten national champion team. Martindale’s unit came for an 8-5 Michigan squad, with the Big Ten program’s defense in far better shape than its offense (113th in scoring) in its first post-Harbaugh season.

After a poor showing running the 2010 Broncos’ defense, Martindale found his footing with the Ravens. Baltimore’s defense ranked in the top three in scoring each year from 2018-20, before a step back commenced in 2021. The Ravens moved on from their DC, hiring Macdonald from the Michigan staff, in 2022. A Giants team thought to be rebuilding saw its defense climb to 17th in scoring defense in 2022, helping an undermanned team reach the divisional round. New York’s unit regressed in 2023, however.

Anarumo will be competing with Martindale for two of these jobs, with the former Bengals DC up for the Colts and Falcons’ positions as well. The veteran staffer will meet with the Colts on Wednesday and Falcons on Thursday, SI.com’s Albert Breer adds. While these jobs are available now, a host of new ones will likely be opening up once teams decide on HCs. Anarumo is on a few prospective HCs’ lists, Breer adds, pointing to a second-chance opportunity being more likely than not for the well-regarded coordinator.

Falcons To Conduct DC Interview With Lou Anarumo

January 14th, 2025 at 10:41am CST by Adam La Rose

The Falcons are among the teams to make coordinator changes this offseason. DC Jimmy Lake was dismissed over the weekend, and the search for his replacement will be worth monitoring.

Former Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo will interview with the Falcons for their vacancy, as first reported by NFL Network’s Colleen Wolfe. Confirming the news, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution adds the meeting will take place on Thursday. This marks the second DC gig Anarumo has been connected to.

The 58-year-old had a lengthy college coaching career before joining the pro ranks with the Dolphins. Anarumo spent six years coaching Miami’s defensive backs before doing the same with the Giants in 2018. That was followed by his first full-time NFL coordinator opportunity as he joined Zac Taylor‘s initial Bengals staff. His six-year run in that capacity came to an end after this season.

The Bengals’ best season on defense under Anarumo came in 2022, when the team finished sixth in points allowed. On four other occasions, though, Cincinnati ranked outside the top 20 in that category; that includes this past campaign, one in which the Bengals were hampered by injuries in the secondary but still fell short of even moderate expectations. Despite quarterback Joe Burrow leading the league in passing yards and wideout Ja’Marr Chase winning the ‘Triple Crown’ (by topping the NFL in receptions, yards and touchdowns), Cincinnati finished 9-8 and missed the playoffs.

While the Bengals search out a replacement coordinator, Anarumo may not need to wait long to find his next opportunity. He is expected to be among the candidates to interview for the Colts’ DC position, one which was created after the season with the firing of Gus Bradley. In addition to Indianapolis interest, Anarumo has found himself on Atlanta’s radar.

During Lake’s first year with the Falcons – which doubled as his debut campaign as an NFL coordinator – Atlanta ranked 23rd in total and scoring defense. Once again, a lack of pressure on opposing quarterbacks was a problem; the team finished with only 31 sacks, the second-fewest in the NFL. Taking a step forward in that department will be a goal for 2025. Under Anarumo this year, the Bengals ranked just 24th in sacks despite Trey Hendrickson leading the league with 17.5.

This marks the first known candidate for the Falcons as they look to improve on Lake’s performance on defense. It will be interesting to see how Anarumo’s interview shakes out and where else the team looks for potential hires.

Falcons Fire DC Jimmy Lake

January 11th, 2025 at 10:37pm CST by Ely Allen

The coaching turnover continues. Atlanta will officially be looking for a new defensive coordinator as NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports that the Falcons have fired Jimmy Lake. In addition to Lake, Atlanta has let go of defensive line coach Jay Rodgers, as well.

Lake, a very experienced defensive backs coach with four universities and four NFL teams on his résumé, was in his first year as a defensive coordinator in the NFL. Following a playing career in college, Lake immediately jumped into coaching. With seven years of college coaching under his belt, Lake got his first NFL coaching opportunity as the assistant defensive backs coach in Tampa Bay under then-defensive backs coach Raheem Morris.

Lake was poached away by the Lions, taking his first full position coaching gig in the NFL as defensive backs coach in Detroit in 2008. After the team famously finished winless, though, the entire coaching staff was let go. After a year hiatus, Lake found himself back in Tampa Bay under Morris, who by that time had become head coach. This time, Lake served in the full role of defensive backs coach. Both Morris and Lake were fired in 2011.

At this point Lake parted ways with Morris, heading back to the collegiate ranks of coaching. He began a stint at the University of Washington in 2014 (his second stint in Seattle) that saw his biggest coaching progressions to date. After two years as defensive backs coach for the Huskies, Lake added the title of co-defensive coordinator for two more years before officially being named defensive coordinator, his first coordinator position at any level.

After two years in that role, then-head coach Chris Petersen stepped down with Lake serving as his successor, earning his first head coaching gig in football. In Lake’s second year on the job, though, controversy arose when he hit a player in the facemask and shoved him in the back while separating him from a sideline scrum. He was suspended without pay and, a week later, let go.

After another hiatus, Lake spent the 2023 campaign back in the NFL as assistant head coach for the Rams, rejoining Morris, who was the defensive coordinator in Los Angeles at the time. When Morris was hired as head coach in Atlanta, he brought Lake in for his first NFL coordinator gig. The Falcons defense struggled, though, finishing 23rd in both points and yards allowed. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Morris became more involved in coaching the defense, realizing improvement was needed on that side of the ball.

Rodgers was working his fourth defensive line coaching gig in the NFL. He had previously served with the Broncos, Bears, and Chargers, coaching Pro Bowlers such as Elvis Dumervil, DeMarcus Ware, Akiem Hicks, and Joey Bosa. The pass rush was a big issue for the Falcons this season, as they finished with only 31 — three away from the lowest team total in the league.

Morris and Atlanta will join a number of other teams looking to fill a coordinator role. The team will likely hire the coordinator and let them fill the defensive line coaching role, unless Morris plans to continue to have control in coaching the defense. If that’s the case, Morris may hire his own preference for the position.

2025 NFL Cap Carryover, By Team

January 11th, 2025 at 9:52pm CST by Adam La Rose

With the regular season in the books, all NFL teams have declared their cap carryover for the 2025 league year. Unused cap space from the current campaign will roll over, a substantial element of many teams’ financial planning.

Last offseason saw a record-breaking jump in the salary cap ceiling (pushing the upper limit to $255.4MM). To no surprise, another spike is expected but a smaller year-to-year increase is likely to take place. It was learned last month that teams are preparing for the 2025 cap to check in at a figure between $265MM-$275MM.

As teams evaluate key roster-building decisions – including restructures and cuts aimed at manufacturing cap space – carryovers are crucial. It it still not known what exactly the cap ceiling will wind up as, but in the meantime every club’s space which has been rolled over will add a degree of clarity with respect to how their offseason will take shape. Several teams (including the top two on this year’s list) have made a concerted effort in recent years to carry unused space through the course of a campaign knowing a spike in cap charges for core players are forthcoming.

Courtesy of Over the Cap, here is the full breakdown of each team’s 2025 cap carryover amount:

  • San Francisco 49ers: $50.01MM
  • Cleveland Browns: $41.95MM
  • New England Patriots: $34.86MM
  • Las Vegas Raiders: $33.57MM
  • Detroit Lions: $23.73MM
  • Washington Commanders: $19.83MM
  • Dallas Cowboys: $18.84MM
  • Jacksonville Jaguars: $15.89MM
  • Green Bay Packers: $15.11MM
  • Tennessee Titans: $14.72MM
  • Arizona Cardinals: $11.38MM
  • Indianapolis Colts: $10.1MM
  • Seattle Seahawks: $8.42MM
  • Pittsburgh Steelers: $6.83MM
  • Philadelphia Eagles: $6.81MM
  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $6.63MM
  • Atlanta Falcons: $6.07MM
  • Minnesota Vikings: $5.94MM
  • Cincinnati Bengals: $5.94MM
  • Chicago Bears: $5.08MM
  • Los Angeles Chargers: $4.89MM
  • Houston Texans: $4.81MM
  • Kansas City Chiefs: $3.15MM
  • Miami Dolphins: $3MM
  • New Orleans Saints: $2.93MM
  • Los Angeles Rams: $2.75MM
  • Baltimore Ravens: $2.14MM
  • Denver Broncos: $1.91MM
  • Buffalo Bills: $1.34MM
  • New York Giants: $1.17MM
  • Carolina Panthers: $490K
  • New York Jets: $346K

Falcons GM: Team Fine Keeping Kirk Cousins As Backup

January 9th, 2025 at 10:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

After the Falcons benched a struggling Kirk Cousins, the expectation has been for a release to commence. Cousins does not look to have a route back to Atlanta’s starting job, especially after No. 8 overall pick Michael Penix Jr. showed promise in his three starts.

A release will remain the expectation, but Terry Fontenot attempted to craft an alternative solution — one that may not be taken at face value. The fifth-year Falcons GM said (via The Athletic’s Josh Kendall) the team would be fine keeping Cousins as its backup.

Fontenot, who has survived in his post despite four straight losing seasons, oversaw a widely criticized plan that featured the Falcons both giving Cousins $90MM guaranteed at signing and then drafting Penix in the top 10 six-plus weeks later. This historically unusual route led to a benching after 14 games, with Cousins not showing the form that had made him a steady option in Minnesota. This led to retirement rumors, but the 36-year-old passer will aim to play in 2025.

Players in Cousins’ contractual neighborhood are not backups, as the immobile QB will be due a $27.5MM base salary in 2025. No quarterback with a salary north of $12.5MM is a current backup. Cousins is due to count $40MM against the Falcons’ cap this year. The Falcons keeping the 13-year veteran would also leave them on the hook for an additional $10MM guaranteed, due March 17. The Falcons also included a no-trade clause in Cousins’ contract, which all but ensures he will hit free agency.

The team will almost certainly look to escape that final payment by designating the QB as a post-June 1 cut. That measure would split a monster dead money bill over two offseasons, helping the Falcons after their 2024 mistake. The $65MM penalty would check in second all time — by a substantial margin — in terms of a single-player dead money hit. Russell Wilson still leads the way, with part two of his $83MM-plus dead money charge set to hit the Broncos’ payroll soon.

Any hopes the Falcons would have in trading Cousins’ $27.5MM salary would need to involve the NFC South club paying most of it to facilitate a deal. Given Cousins’ concerning play before his benching, the Falcons will have a near-impossible task of convincing a team to take on the contract. Though, this year is not on track to feature a promising QB market — either in free agency or the draft. This would help explain why the Falcons will attempt to dangle their sunk cost a bit longer.

Cousins cannot be cut until after Super Bowl LIX, and no post-June 1 releases can take place until the start of the 2025 league year (March 12). This gives Atlanta some time, even though the odds are against a trade coming to pass.

Cousins did elevate Atlanta’s passing attack compared to where it was with Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder, but a difficult late-season stretch prompted Raheem Morris to bench a player the team hoped would start for two seasons. That was the party line, anyway. In reality, top-10 QB investments do not sit for two years. Penix will now have a full offseason to develop as a starter, with Cousins likely to hit free agency for a third time.

Coaching Notes: Bears, Jaguars, Allen, Patriots, Lake

January 9th, 2025 at 3:34pm CST by Sam Robinson

GM-centric workflow models are more common in the modern NFL than those that start with head coaches, though some teams still have their sideline leaders atop the personnel pyramid. The Bears are not one of them, and it does not sound like they intend to change that after this search concludes. Chairman George McCaskey confirmed (via the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs) the team’s next HC will still report to GM Ryan Poles, who will report to president Kevin Warren.

This will close the door on a coach power play or a change in which both the Bears’ HC and GM would report to Warren. The top-down model being non-negotiable could affect the franchise’s search to some degree, though the Bears have used this setup for a while. Additionally, the Bears’ first round of interviews will be entirely virtual, per The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. This applies to unattached coaches, who are not bound by league rules mandating virtual meetings before January 20, the day after the divisional round wraps.

Here is the latest from the coaching carousel:

  • A Monday report did not make it clear if the Patriots would fire Alex Van Pelt along with Jerod Mayo, but the veteran OC apparently told friends shortly after the Bills matchup he and the HC were each fired, the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin notes. This is not yet official, but coordinator statuses can go quiet as teams search for new HCs. Mayo had criticized Van Pelt during the season, leading to hot seat rumors. But the play-caller had drawn praise for his work with Drake Maye. The Patriots should expect plenty of staff turnover, the Globe’s Nicole Yang adds. That is generally the norm, but the Pats retained several staffers following their Bill Belichick-to-Mayo transition.
  • Ben Johnson is set to go through a four-pack of interviews between Friday and Saturday, as summits with the Patriots, Raiders (both Friday) and Bears and Jaguars (Saturday) loom. Buzz around the league points to Johnson being intrigued by the Jacksonville job, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes, but the in-demand assistant might want his own GM. The Lions’ OC has been notoriously picky when it comes to a job, and although more noise has come about him taking one during this cycle, Trent Baalke being retained could throw a wrench into the Jags’ process. It would seem unlikely if the Jags allowed Baalke to remain GM if Johnson preferred that not remain the case, and a Wednesday report indicated the team could be open to kicking Baalke to another role. That said, Fowler adds some among the Jags are skeptical a coach could run a power play to boot Baalke from his four-year post.
  • Not much has come out about Dennis Allen‘s future post-New Orleans, but the recently fired Saints leader may have another DC chance again soon. The Colts have come up as an interested party, Fowler adds, noting the three-year Saints HC should be a candidate for the Indy DC job. The team has yet to conduct an interview, but Allen has been either a head coach or DC for most of the past 14 years. The Saints had played well defensively leading up to this season, with Allen at the helm when the team repaired a porous unit in the late 2010s.
  • No Falcons coordinator changes have come out, but some in the league are keeping an eye on their DC situation, Fowler notes. Raheem Morris did not definitively endorse Jimmy Lake for a second year. Morris brought the former Washington Huskies HC with him from the Rams’ staff, doing the same with OC Zac Robinson. After improving under one-and-done DC Ryan Nielsen, the Falcons dropped to 23rd in scoring defense and yards allowed under Lake, a first-time NFL coordinator.

CB Justin Bethel Retires

January 8th, 2025 at 6:50pm CST by Adam La Rose

Justin Bethel‘s playing days have come to an end. The veteran corner/special teams ace announced his retirement via Instagram on Wednesday.

“23 years. 12 years pro,” Bethel wrote. “That’s how long I’ve played the game of football! Been blessed more than I can imagine. Met a lot of great people thanks to football and been to a lot of cool places. But my greatest years are ahead of me.”

Bethel entered the league as a sixth-round pick of the Cardinals in 2012. He played all 16 games in his rookie year but hardly saw the field on defense. With respect to special teams, though, his 70% snap share showcased his immediate contributions. It was in the third phase that Bethel would go on to make his most notable impact in the NFL. That included three consecutive Pro Bowl nods from 2013-15.

Following a six-year run in Arizona (including the 2017 campaign, in which he logged his heaviest defensive workload), Bethel spent one year with the Falcons. That, in turn, was followed by time with the Ravens, Patriots and Dolphins. He logged a full season in 2023 with Miami but was out of the league this past campaign. Rather than attempting a return for the 2025 season, Bethel has elected to hang up his cleats.

In all, the 34-year-old played 200 combined regular and postseason games in the NFL, collecting five interceptions and 282 tackles along the way. Thanks in large part to his first Cardinals extension, Bethel amassed roughly $20MM in career earnings.

2025 NFL General Manager Search Tracker

January 8th, 2025 at 6:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Titans and Raiders again became part of a GM carousel in the 2020s. Tennessee canned its front office boss after two seasons, while Las Vegas moved on after one. These two joined the Jets, and after two-plus offseason weeks, the Jaguars followed suit by firing Trent Baalke. With the Titans, Raiders and Jets landing on GMs, the Jags are the only team left searching. Here is how the GM market looks:

Updated 2-21-25 (4:00pm CT)

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Jets

Tennessee Titans

NFL Reserve/Futures Deals: 1/7/25

January 7th, 2025 at 8:39pm CST by Ben Levine

Many teams have started signing players to reserve/futures contracts, allowing the organization to retain (routinely) young, practice squad players through the offseason. Here are the latest reserve/futures contracts:

Arizona Cardinals

  • DE Anthony Goodlow, OL Sincere Haynesworth, RB Zonovan Knight, NT P.J. Mustipher

Atlanta Falcons

  • WR Makai Polk

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

  • TE Jordan Murray

Cincinnati Bengals

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

  • DL Tyler Manoa

Miami Dolphins

San Francisco 49ers

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