The Atlanta Falcons are the only team left still looking for a head coach. Every other franchise have found their "guy" and the Falcons are still playing coy. According to a number of NFL sources, the Falcons are likely to hire Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn for the position along with Kyle Shanahan for the offensive coordinator spot, but nothing has been made official since the Seahawks are preparing to battle for the Super Bowl. While the team remains in a holding pattern, what does that mean for their pending free agents and that big contract owed to Julio Jones?
FOX Sports' Jay Glazer confirms the Falcons are expected to hire Quinn when he is officially available to be hired. The defensive coordinator interviewed once again on Monday, but no deal can be agreed upon until after the Feb. 1 Super Bowl or the Falcons would be violating the league tampering policy. Quinn is currently in his second season with Seattle and playing a big part in the team making their second trip to the Super Bowl.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Shanahan will be joining Quinn as his offensive coordinator as the two had intended to be paired together. Shanahan spent all of last season dealing with the drama of Johnny Manziel and Brian Hoyer so having Matt Ryan in place should be a welcomed adjustment. The coordinator has had some tough stops in his career trying to develop Robert Griffin III and Manziel. However, his stint with Matt Schaub might be one of his best as he guided the quarterback to a 4,000-yard season while Andre Johnson put up consecutive 1,500-yard years. Even Steve Slaton had a big ground game with Shanahan. Ryan admits he is excited and anxious for a new head coach to be put into place.
"We didn't do a good enough job winning the close games," Ryan said, via the team website. "In this league, you know games are going to be close; you've got to find ways to get it done, and hopefully we'll be better at that moving forward. I'll be excited to get to meet him and get a feel for how we're going to move forward and to have to learn a little bit of a new offense. I think it'll be interesting to see how that shakes out."
The Falcons' offseason does not stop with the coaching staff. The team must then begin negations with Julio Jones who will be entering the final year of his contract. Contract talks have not started with the wide receiver, but Jones stresses that he is not concerned about his future in Atlanta, remaining confident that a deal gets done. There is also the pending futures of Steven Jackson and Jacquizz Rodgers in the ground game.
"That's on them to decide," Jones said, via ESPN.com. "I just have to come here and show up and work every day. I've got to make them feel like they want me here for the remainder of my career. The only thing I can do is keep working and keep my nose clean and just do the right things. I don't think about (a new contract). Money is good, but I don't think about it. When I'm on the field, I want to beat the guy across from me. I just come to work and play football."
