Tag: Terry Fontenot

Falcons fire only Black head coach/GM duo in the NFL following 8-9 season

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Falcons head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot have been fired. Morris, after two seasons at the helm, and Fontenot, following six years as one of the National Football League’s few Black GMs.

The Atlanta Falcons were the only NFL franchise with a Black head coach and a Black general manager. That is no more.

Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot spoke with the media before training camp began on Sunday, July 27, 2025. Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

Morris, his staff, and the Falcons defeated the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, bringing the overall record to 8-9 for a consecutive season. The two eight-win seasons were more than any of the three seasons of the former head coach and current Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith. Under Smith, the Falcons went 7-10 for three consecutive seasons, missing the playoffs in each.

The Falcons’ current streak of missing the postseason is now eight years long. Under Fontenot, the Falcons drafted talented players like Bijan Robinson, Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and rookies Xavier Watts, Jalon Walker, and James Pearce Jr., but consistently missed the playoffs. Fontenot began his tenure in Atlanta in 2021, holding a six-year contract. Morris signed a five-year contract before the 2024 season.

Fontenot is owed for one more year, while Morris has three years remaining on his deal that he will have to be paid for. Morris is owed $12 million, according to a source familiar with the deal.

There was a drastic improvement from Morris’s first season to the 2025 season. Atlanta finished the 2025 season among the top three teams in sacks and set a new franchise record with 57 sacks. During the 2024 season, the defense was at the bottom of league rankings for nearly all defensive categories.

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Donnell Suggs

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January 4, 2026
Falcons select Michael Penix, Jr. in a shocking NFL Draft surprise

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DETROIT — With the 8th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons selected Washington quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. Yes, the Falcons needed a quarterback to shore up their long-term future after current quarterback Kirk Cousins’s time in uniform is completed. However, the selection of Penix with the 8th pick after paying Cousins $180 million nearly six weeks ago, is absolutely shocking.

The decision to take Penix stunned the 275,000 people at Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit.

First, Cousins’s earnings in 2024 ($12.5 million) and 2025 ($27.5 million) are fully guaranteed. If the Falcons were to release Cousins after the 2024 season, they’d be on the hook for $65 million in dead money and cost themselves $25 million in net cap space. Even a post-June 1 cut would leave $40 million in dead cap on Atlanta’s books, placing the team in cap Hell.

However, Penix was complimentary of Cousins Thursday night.

“He’s been in the league,” Penix said of Cousins in a phone call with the press. “He’s been in there for a while. He’s played a lot of football. I feel like I’m gonna come in and I’m gonna learn. I’m gonna learn from him.”

Penix’s credentials do not disappoint. He was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy last year and won the Maxwell Award, as the best all-around player in college football. Additionally, Penix led major college football with 4,903 passing yards in 2023 and was second in FBS in 2022 (4,641). Here’s some historical perspective: Penix is the first player with 4,500 passing yards or more in two straight seasons since Patrick Mahomes did it in 2015 and 2016 for Texas Tech.

However, Penix’s injury history made many teams pause: Penix had four separate season-ending injuries while playing for Indiana University. Penix tore his right ACL in 2018, dislocated his shoulder in 2019, tore his right ACL again in 2020 and separated the AC joint in his shoulder in 2021.

Now, the Falcons have to deal with the fact Penix, 23, would be at least 25 when it’s his turn to take the helm. Colloquially, the NFL stands for ‘Not For Long’ and the Falcons are in win-now mode. Apparently, the clock is ticking for Cousins, head coach Raheem Morris and General Manager Terry Fontenot as owner Arthur Blank has given the team a mandate to win the NFC South for the first time since 2016.

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Itoro N. Umontuen

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April 25, 2024
Kirk Cousins inks 4-year, $180M contract with Atlanta Falcons

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Quarterback Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons have agreed upon a four-year contract. The deal is potentially worth up to $180 million. $100 million is guaranteed, with $90 million being paid in the first two years of the deal. There is also a $2 million incentive if Cousins leads the Falcons to a Super Bowl title.

The maximum value of Kirk Cousins’s contract is potentially $188 million.

Cousins’ move to Atlanta was first announced by his agent, Mike McCartney. Cousins played 12 seasons for the Vikings and Washington. He threw for 39,471 yards and 270 touchdowns. He was selected to play in 4 Pro Bowls. However, after suffering an Achilles’ injury, the Vikings allowed Cousins to test the free agency market. The Vikings were serious about bringing back the quarterback, however the Falcons were serious about bringing Cousins in the building.

“After significant and positive dialogue with Kirk and his representatives, we were unable to reach agreement on a contract that fits the short and long-term visions for both Kirk and the Minnesota Vikings,” Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said in a statement on Monday. “Kirk holds a special place in Vikings history, and we appreciate his leadership and contributions to the team and the Minneapolis-St. Paul community over the past six seasons. We wish him, his wife, Julie, and their children all the best.”

The Falcons were set on addressing the quarterback position after a mediocre season by 2023 starters Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke. Ridder would finish the season with 2,836 passing yards, twelve touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Despite running for 976 yards, catching 58 passes for 487 yards and eight combined touchdowns, Bijan Robinson was never the every-down back the Falcons envisioned. Kyle Pitts struggled once again to be featured in an offense that didn’t have an above average quarterback. Pitts only had 53 catches for 667 yards and three touchdowns. Drake London finished the season with 905 yards and two touchdowns.

During the NFL Combine, new Falcons head coach Raheem Morris did not mince words when describing the performance of the previous starting QBs.

“Now, it’s time to implement a couple new things, go out there and find out who’s gonna be the triggerman for us and put ourselves in a position to win,” Morris said. “I’m not afraid to say that we have the ability, and we’re capable of going out there to win next year. If we do some of the right things, make the right moves, we can do that.

“And that’s not an arrogance. That’s not a cockiness. That is more of a credit to the people who are in the building with me still and the people still and some of the people who are not there now.”

Additionally, General Manager Terry Fontenot echoed Morris’s sentiments during an interview with the team’s website.

“I am very excited about where we are, but we will be aggressive and we have to make this total team better,” Fontenot said. “Clearly, we’re going to get the quarterback position right, not close.”

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March 11, 2024