Black Monday Firings Hits Falcons, Raiders, Browns and Cardinals

As we reported yesterday, Black Monday was coming, and it was coming fast. Now that Black Monday has passed, we have a clearer picture on who has been fired and what’s possibly next for the teams that fired their coaches.

Raheem Morris and Atlanta Falcons

The only firing that happened before Black Monday was Raheem Morris from the Falcons. The Falcons owner did release a statement today and mentioned that they brought in ‘Sportsology Group’. With the help of Sportsology, they conducted a deep internal review over the past two months of their football operations. The firing of Morris and the general manager isn’t the end of changes in Atlanta either.

• The search for HC’s is already underway with the help of Sportsology Group and ZRG Partners. The Falcons will also consult with other people with football insight to better understand where the game is today to fill those two critical roles within the franchise.
• The Falcons will be adding a new ‘President of Football’ into the mix. This ‘POF’ will set the vision and identity for the Falcons. The new head coach and general manager will report to the new president of football, and they will work collaboratively as a football leadership team on all football decisions. Final decision-making authority will rest with the president of football. They will also be reporting directly to Falcons owner as well. The Athletic has mentioned that the Falcons are looking to hire former NFL MVP Matt Ryan for the role.
• Rich McKay will be succeeded by Greg Beatles into the CEO position. Greg will continue oversight of all business affairs of the Falcons and collaborate closely with the new president of football to ensure all resources and operational support are working toward the goal of ‘a winning product on the field’. Greg, the new HC, GM and POF will all work together to hire some new members of the front office which will likely happen in the coming weeks.

Jonathan Gannon and Arizona Cardinals

Gannon promised Cardinals fans amid the team’s struggles this season, that there was light at the end of the tunnel and they’d come out better then they went into this. Unfortunately for Gannon, those better days never came. Owner Michael Bidwill announced the firing on ‘Black Monday’. GM Monti Ossenfort will be retained and help in the search for a new head coach. The Cardinals were overhauled with injuries, including to James Conner, Kyler Murray, Marvin Harrison Jr and Garrett Williams just to name a few.

Pete Carroll and Las Vegas Raiders

This firing wasn’t surprising for most fans, Pete Carroll’s first season in Vegas will stay at that. Despite getting the win against the Chiefs in Week 18, that wasn’t enough for ownership to keep the oldest head coach around for another season. This is the second year in a row that the Raiders will be searching for a new head coach.The Raiders hired Carroll to replace Antonio Pierce after Pierce was promoted to head coach in 2024.

John Stypek, the GM that the Raiders hired last season will be retained and will help minority owner, Tom Brady in the search for a brand new head coach. As of Sunday, Carroll did want to return to Vegas next season and hadn’t thought about retirement.

Kevin Stefanski and Cleveland Browns

The two-time coach of the year was fired today by the Cleveland Browns after six seasons of coaching the Browns. He is expected to be the biggest name available this offseason with the Falcons already setting up a meeting with Stefanski.

“We have tremendous gratitude for Kevin’s leadership of the Cleveland Browns over the last six seasons,” team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam said in a statement. “He is a good football coach and an even better person. We appreciate all his hard work and dedication to our organization, but our results over the last two seasons have not been satisfactory, and we believe a change at the head coaching position is necessary. We wish Kevin, Michelle and the Stefanski family all the best in the future. Andrew Berry will continue to lead our football operations. The entirety of our focus is on building a team that brings our fans the success they long deserve, and we will continue to work relentlessly toward that goal and invest whatever resources necessary to build a winning football program. Andrew will immediately begin our thorough process to find an outstanding new head coach and leader of our football team. We have an exciting young core to build upon, and Andrew and his team are intent on adding talent to this core and building out a roster that can achieve sustainable success.”

Ownership took complete responsibility of the position that the team is in today. “Eight wins in two years is horrible and it’s unacceptable and it‘s not gonna continue”.

The Browns unfortunately just haven’t been able to figure things out on the defensive side of things yet. They started the season with Joe Flacco, then Dillon Gabriel and finished the season with Shedeur Sanders at the helm. Despite Sanders showing flashes of life in his rookie year, the Browns ranked amongst the lowest in offensive stats, which ultimately led to Stefanksi’s outing. The Browns can now add searching for a new head coach to their to-do list this offseason. That just adds to the long list for the Browns front office, DeShaun Watson’s still under contract for 80m and the new HC will likely change up the offensive line, and have to develop a new QB.

What I’m Hearing Around The NFL

I can confirm that QB’s Daniel Jones and Kirk Cousins would like to stay with their respective teams. C Tyler Linderbaum would also like to stay a Baltimore Raven with Russell Wilson also planning to let teams know he is available in 2026. The Titans are expected to release WR Calvin Ridley once that side of things opens up and RB Rachaad White expecting to be in a new uniform once the 2026 season comes.

The Hawks Are Looking To Trade Trae Young

If you haven’t been watching the NBA this season, this headline may come to a surprise to you. But let me explain to you why this makes sense for the Hawks and Trae Young.

Well coming into the 25’-26’ season, there was lots of optimism around the facility and franchise. Fans were excited due to the moves that the front office had made. It’s was definitely an exciting time to be an Atlanta Hawks fan. Then Trae Young sprained his MCL in late-October. But it didn’t really seem to phase the Hawks that he was out of the lineup. They went 13-9 in the stretch without Trae Young which allowed for the emergence of Jalen Johnson. The combination of Jalen Johnson and the rest of the Hawks lineup gave fans hope, that they may actually be contenders in the eastern conference.

Then Trae Young made his return to the court, and the Atlanta Hawks went a surprising 0-5 during that stretch. Trae Young did not play in yesterday’s game but did partake in pre-game workouts. HC Quin Snyder wouldn’t comment on Trae Young’s future last night to reporters.

The chatter around trading Trae Young all emerged last offseason when the Hawks didn’t give Trae Young an extension as he went into the final year of his contract. Now next offseason, the Atlanta Hawks face a scenario that if they keep Trae Young past the deadline. He would likely accept his 48.9m player option, but trading him away makes him another teams problem. Trae Young is looking for a brand new contract that is similar to what a star player is making in the league. Marc Stein reported that the Wizards may have heavy interests in Young and would move C.J. McCollum to the Hawks. Stein mentioned that a third team will likely need to get involved to make the trade legal. It seems like the Trae Young Era in Atlanta is over.