FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham and San Francisco 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams are among the latest general manager candidates interviewed by the Atlanta Falcons, the team announced Friday.
Earlier this month, Cunningham and Williams interviewed for the team’s newly created president of football position. The Falcons ultimately hired Matt Ryan, the former longtime starting quarterback in Atlanta, for that job on Jan. 10 as team owner Arthur Blank rebooted the franchise’s leadership.
Blank fired second-year head coach Raheem Morris and fifth-year general manager Terry Fontenot on Jan. 4, hours after the conclusion of the team’s eighth consecutive losing season — the Falcons went 8-9 for the second year in a row — while extending a playoff drought that runs concurrently with that dismal stretch.
Once hired for the front-office role, Ryan immediately began leading the search for the team’s next head coach, which ended last Saturday with the hiring of former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, then moved on to leading the search for a GM. Both of those positions report to Ryan in Atlanta’s new leadership structure.
The Falcons on Friday also interviewed Kansas City Chiefs assistant GM Mike Bradway and Philadelphia Eagles senior personnel director Joe Douglas, a former GM for the New York Jets.