As the 20th head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, Kevin Stefanski will have his work cut out for him. He and the Falcons agreed to a deal to make him their next head coach on Saturday night, which saw the second biggest domino of this coaching carousel fall after John Harbaugh ended up in New York.
The 43-year-old is well aware that the Dirty Birds are amid an eight-year playoff drought right now, but they're also set to have multiple key starters hit the open market. It's already a pivotal offseason in Atlanta because of the QB situation, but things will really heat up once free agency rolls around.
Since he's already bringing some assistants over from Cleveland, he could also bring some players over to fill those holes, but there aren't many that would improve the roster. Their most marquee free agent is veteran tight end David Njoku, who would be a more affordable alternative to Kyle Pitts.
Kevin Stefanski could look to bring David Njoku to Atlanta to replace (or complement) Kyle Pitts
The Browns saw third-round rookie Harold Fannin Jr. break out at the end of the season, which means the need to retain Njoku isn't there. The 2016 first-round pick will be 30 by the time next season starts, but the Falcons could use a second tight end since Stefanski usually employs a 2-TE scheme.
In just 12 games (and 11 starts) this season, Njoku caught 33 passes for 293 yards and four scores. However, Stefanski coached him to a Pro Bowl appearance in 2023 after recording career-highs in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, but has since struggled to remain healthy.
Spotrac projects his offseason market value to be two years and $19.98 million, which would come in just under $10 million per season. That's a far cry from Pitts' own projection, which has him creeping up on the $15 million per year mark, but the Falcons will just end up using the franchise tag on him.
As for Pitts, Stefanski and Matt Ryan would be making a mistake by letting him walk. The Florida product enjoyed his best season since his rookie year and with the role tight ends play in the new scheme, a new deal will age better with time. He's the offense's WR2 behind London, so he must stay.
Frankly, unless Njoku really wants to take a pay cut to reunite with his ex-head coach, this doesn't feel overly likely, but it would be interesting if they spent on another red zone threat.