The Atlanta Falcons just hired their 13th general manager in franchise history, as Ian Cunningham is set to take the mantle in Atlanta. After a lengthy interview process, the early frontrunner was able to fend off some late challengers, which led Matt Ryan and Kevin Stefanski to choose him to be the GM.
Now that he landed his job, the respected exec will have his work cut out for him. He's a first-time GM and Ryan is a first-time executive after being hired as the president of football, which is alarming. So what the Falcons need to focus on adding to their front office is more executives with GM experience.
They already have ex-Bears GM Ryan Pace and ex-Lions GM Bob Quinn in the building, but the 40-year-old still needs to find a right-hand man. And this is where the always-polarizing Joe Douglas comes into play, as he still could be a candidate to join the revamped front office in an advisory role.
Expect Joe Douglas to have a pivotal role in the Falcons' revamped front office
Cunningham and Douglas both have ties to Howie Roseman and the Eagles' front office, but their time in Philadelphia also overlapped. They were both key lieutenants for Roseman in 2017 and 2018, when Douglas was the VP of player personnel and Cunningham was the director of college scouting.
The 49-year-old interviewed for the Falcons' GM job, which was likely for Ryan to evaluate how his fit would be alongside his former colleague. And it seems like this idea could work out, especially given they also spent six seasons together as scouts in Baltimore and have known each other for years.
I know Jets fans still have plenty of tunnel vision in regards to Douglas from his time as their GM, but let's take off our blinders for a second. He did a lot of wrong in New York, but he also did a lot of right, and I still believe that he and Robert Saleh were unjustly fired for Woody Johnson's incompetence.
He could never get the QB right in New York, but was still one of the better GMs they've had. That is an incredibly low bar for one of the most inept franchises in the NFL, but at least Douglas has over two decades of executive experience despite being foolish enough to bet his job on Zach Wilson.
This isn't to say he didn't make mistakes, because trust me, he made several, but he won't have final say in making any decisions. He can just be an experienced ear for the first-year GM to lean on because of their history, which feels like a low-risk move for a team that's finally embracing change.