The Atlanta Falcons are finally ushering in a new era now that Raheem Morris is gone, but Morris is ready to turn the page now that Kevin Stefanski is the new lead man in Atlanta. After missing out on the Cardinals' head coaching job, he accepted the 49ers' DC job to reunite with fellow ex-Falcons assistant Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco.
Now that the Super Bowl-winning DC is back on the West Coast, he has several Falcons' players he can bring along with him. There has been some talk of Jessie Bates III being moved, but that doesn't feel overly likely, but there's another player in the secondary who could pack his bags for California.
Dee Alford had a breakout season for an ailing Dirty Birds' secondary, one that likely revived his NFL career. He stepped in admirably as a starter while Mike Hughes and Billy Bowman Jr. were injured and was arguably the team's second-best cornerback in 2025, with only A.J. Terrell having a better year.
Dee Alford is a prime candidate to leave the Falcons to follow Raheem Morris to the NFC West
The 28-year-old led the Falcons with 13 passes defensed on the year, and only Xavier Watts had more interceptions than him. Alford picked off three passes, including a game-sealing pick in Week 18 to beat the Saints, which was probably his biggest highlight play of the season.
In all honesty, there isn't much room to keep Alford another year. The 28-year-old had a really good year, but Bowman and Hughes will re-claim their spots in the starting lineup by Week 1 of 2026 once they're healthy, so keeping the ex-CFL star would be best suited as a depth move for the Falcons.
Spotrac projects that he'll command nearly $6 million per year, which isn't a worthwhile investment for a Falcons team that has to prioritize retaining Kyle Pitts and Kaden Elliss, as well as negotiating extensions with Bijan Robinson and Drake Robinson, so Ian Cunningham may have to cut his losses.
The 49ers have a promising young nickel corner in third-round rookie Upton Stout, but Alford isn't a player who can solely play the slot. Even though he is better as nickel, he can play inside and out, which is something that could be intriguing to a team in desperate need of help in the secondary.
Alford is a player obviously the Falcons should try to keep, but realizing the impact the 49-year-old has had on his career, I would venture to say the Georgia native is good as gone once free agency kicks off while the Falcons try and make a bigger splash at CB.