Falcons

• Falcons owner Arthur Blank said the hiring process of President Matt Ryan was “pretty rigorous.” (Josh Kendall)
• Per Blank, Ryan has led all of the team’s coaching interviews thus far. (D. Orlando Ledbetter)
• Blank also said they will have a few more head coaching interviews, but not any GM interviews yet. (Ledbetter)
• Ryan’s message to Falcons’ fans upon his return: “My mission since I was drafted has never change. To do whatever I can to win championships… There is also a sense of unfinished business.” (Tori McElhaney)
• Blank revealed Ryan will let the new head coach pick the staff and GM, and the GM will do his job in the traditional way: “Matt did not sign up to do their job.” (Jonathan Jones)
• Ryan elaborated on his role: “The final decisions that I am going to have to make is who we hire, but we are empowering (the HC and GM) to go out there and do their job and I have expressed that in the interviews that we have had.” (Kendall)
• He continued: “I’m not doing the scouting. I’m not running those meetings. The general manager role is going to be exactly the same as it has been before.” (Kendall)
• Ryan talked about where he stands with QB Michael Penix Jr.: “I’m not hired to come in and be the quarterback coach. But I love Mike and have gotten to know him over the last couple of years in Atlanta.” (Marc Raimondi)
• Per CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, former Ravens HC John Harbaugh spoke for “considerable length” with members of Atlanta’s brass. While there are no real guidelines to make an interview official, the Falcons feel they conducted one on Monday. 

Panthers

• Mike Kaye notes that Panthers GM Dan Morgan looked into trades for Micah Parsons and DK Metcalf, among others, but chose not to trade a lot of capital for players given that the team had five wins the previous season.
• Kaye mentions that he believes Bengals DE Joseph Ossai or Jaguars LB Devin Lloyd could be a big signing for the defense, adding that Nakobe Dean or Quay Walker could be consolation prizes if Lloyd re-signs with the Jags.
• Other potential signings mentioned by Kaye as good fits include S Kamren Curl, TE Cade Otton, WR Wan’Dale Robinson, and C Connor McGovern.
• Morgan on their goals heading into 2026: “We’re expecting to win now.” (Mike Kaye)
• Morgan continued: “We’re still going to be patient, we’re not going to be reckless, but we are going to attack our needs.” (Kaye)
• Morgan said he had a good meeting with RB Rico Dowdle and didn’t get the sense the running back was a sure thing to move on. (Joe Person)
• Regarding QB Bryce Young, Morgan said they haven’t made any concrete decisions about long-term negotiations: “I think that’s something that Brandt [Tillis] and I are still talking about… That’s stuff that’s still up in the air that we’re still working through at this point.” (David Newton)
• Morgan also mentioned he’s open to bringing in competition at quarterback or at least getting a younger option behind Young. (Person)

Saints

Saints QB coach Scott Tolzien said that he’s proud of how the offensive group performed and is encouraged by rookie QB Tyler Shough‘s development.

“I couldn’t have been more proud of how our guys, they were so consistent. That’s the word that’s coming to mind for me in their approach. That was their work ethic, their coachability. Heck, even after we went through a change, like, nothing got awkward in our room,” Tolzien said, via Saints Wire. “I’m really proud of how the guys handled the ups and downs of the year as a young group and yeah, we were an inexperienced group. That’s a fact. And yet I’m pleased their consistency performance-wise and just in their preparation most importantly. I mean, we had a couple trades there mid-season and lost a few guys to injury and none of that phased him. It was a mark of, even though he’s a rookie, you know, just a mark of a mature player and person.”