The Atlanta Falcons are casting a wide net in their GM search, but they might be casting it a little too wide now. Their first round of interviews all seemed to make good sense, but it evidently took Matt Ryan and Kevin Stefanski one interview request to throw any logic they had left out the window.
The move in question saw the Falcons request to interview former Jets GM Joe Douglas for their GM opening, which hasn't gone over well on social media. In six seasons with Douglas calling the shots, the Jets never finished with more than seven wins in a season and he could never land the right QB.
The Falcons have requested permission to interview former Jets GM Joe Douglas for their vacant general manager position, sources tell @NFLonCBS. Douglas has been a senior personnel director with the Eagles since re-joining the organization last year.
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) January 22, 2026
If this interview request is granted (which it likely will be), Douglas will mark the fourth GM candidate the Falcons have considered with ties to Howie Roseman and the Eagles. But his GM track record doesn't really help his odds, especially when you consider his dismal track record as a drafter.
The Falcons better not fall for the trap that is hiring Joe Douglas as their GM
You can point to Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson as success stories, but that draft was also almost five years ago and those were obvious picks at the time. The Falcons are fresh off of their best draft class in years, so hiring a GM who struggle to find talent after the first round is a horrible decision.
The 49-year-old also spearheaded the brain trust that drafted Zach Wilson with the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and truly saw him as the future of the franchise. In the years since, he has emerged as one of the biggest busts in franchise history and may not even be a viable backup at this point.
He was fooled by a flash in the pan in one of the worst scouting years in league history, so if he could never get the QB position right with the Jets, who's to say he will with the Falcons? The main benefit of for Douglas would be he gets to enter a better situation with a superior roster and a patient owner.
However, for as much as I disapprove of this move. the Jets fiasco wasn't entirely his fault. Gang Green is home to one of the most incompetent organizations in all of professional sports, and their cycle of suck has no end in sight because Woody Johnson meddles in team affairs way too often.
In all likelihood, the Dirty Birds are only speaking with Douglas to consider him for another front office role, or this is a courtesy because they share the same agent. Since they're likely to be hiring a first-time GM alongside Ryan, a first-time executive, they need to add someone with GM experience to the front office to ease the transition for the new regime, especially with the search is nearing its end.