NFL Insider: Falcons could keep Raheem Morris, move on from Terry Fontenot

Based on what we’ve seen in the past from Falcons owner Arthur Blank, Sunday’s Week 18 matchup with the Saints could ultimately decide the fate of both Terry Fontenot and Raheem Morris.

With a win, the Falcons would finish the season on a four-game winning streak, including victories over two potential playoff teams in the Bucs and Rams. A stretch like that saved Dan Quinn back in 2019, when Atlanta started 3-9 and reeled off four straight to close the year. It bought Quinn and former general manager Thomas Dimitroff another season, but it was short-lived, as the Falcons opened the following year 0-5 and both were fired.

Perhaps that experience taught Blank not to fall into the “momentum” trap of late-season theatrics once the team is already eliminated, but a recent report from The Athletic’s NFL insider Dianna Russini suggests Falcons fans may not be so lucky.

“That work is expected to be weighed alongside the organization’s internal evaluations: two seasons (and a 15-18 record) under coach Raheem Morris, five seasons under Fontenot, how this year has unfolded, the perceived state of the roster and the franchise’s overall team-building approach,” Russini reports. “Many around the league expect the Falcons to move on from Fontenot and stick with Morris as coach. One potential added voice to the mix? Former quarterback Matt Ryan, who is in talks to return to the organization in a front-office role.”

This would undoubtedly be the most illogical result come season’s end. Terry Fontenot and Raheem Morris should be tied together even if they didn’t take over their respective positions at the same time. If the plan is to let Fontenot go, the next general manager has to be given the opportunity to put his own head coach in place.

How many well-respected general manager candidates are going to be excited about taking a job where they don’t get to select their own head coach, have major questions at quarterback, and don’t even have a first-round pick at their disposal in the upcoming NFL Draft? The answer is not many.

Unless the plan is to make Matt Ryan the next general manager — which would be a massive roll of the dice considering he has absolutely zero front-office experience — there is no scenario where the Falcons should be retaining Morris while moving on from Terry Fontenot. It needs to be a clean sweep or nothing at all, but of course, Arthur Blank and his army of decision-makers seem determined to make the biggest possible mess of the situation.

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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire

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