Now the Falcons general manager search is really ramping up.
On Wednesday, we learned that the Falcons put in for a flurry of interview requests with Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, Texans assistant GM James Liipfert, and 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams. They join Steelers assistant GM Andy Weidl, who the team is already interviewing, as candidates for Atlanta’s opening.
There’s a good group here. All of them have college scouting backgrounds to some degree, and all of them come from good organizations; Cunningham spent time with the Ravens and Eagles before the Bears, Liipfert was with the Patriots before the Texans, Williams has been a 49er for a long time, and Weidl also spent time with the Eagles before the Steelers. Williams is the outlier in terms of title, but the more varied set of responsibilities that title implies might interest a Falcons team with an inexperienced president of football in Matt Ryan. I would probably lean toward Cunningham or Weidl, but I would also say there’s nobody on this list I’d be unhappy with at this point.
Cunningham should still be considered the favorite if he’s allowed to interview for the gig, given that he’d come highly recommended from Ryan’s friend and Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles and that he’s been instrumental in the Bears achieving the kind of stunning short-term turnaround the Falcons want for themselves. If all goes well, we should know who the new GM is within a week or so.
