Atlanta

Falcons

The Falcons officially placed the franchise tag on Pitts on Tuesday. While the two sides could still come to terms on a long-term deal to keep Pitts in Atlanta beyond next season, Kendall says “the vibe Atlanta is giving when it comes to Pitts” suggests a new deal is unlikely. Pitts caught 88 passes for 928 yards and five touchdowns last season, turning in what was arguably the best year of his five-year career. Still only 25 years old, it’s fair to assume the Falcons will want to keep Pitts under contract for years to come if he can replicate that success again next season. That said, with a new regime in place and head coach Kevin Stefanski still getting a sense of what he can do with his roster, it’s understandable if the team would prefer to see how Pitts performs in 2026 before making any long-term commitments.

Kendall reported earlier this month that it would be “hard to imagine” Allgeier returning to the Falcons in 2026. With that kind of money, it’s easy to understand why. The former fifth-round back is seeking starting RB money, and should have plenty of suitors after impressing during his first four years in the league. Allgeier rushed 210 times for 1,035 yards and three touchdowns as a rookie before being replaced by Bijan Robinson in 2023. He’s averaged over 4.0 YPC just once in his last three seasons, but has forced a missed tackle on 21.7 percent of his carries over that span while also converting nine of his 22 carries inside the opponent’s five-yard line into scores. While he doesn’t offer much as a pass-catcher, Allgeier can help several teams in need of an early down back who can pick up short yards and punch the ball in down near the goal line. He should have plenty of suitors when free agency opens next month.

The move isn’t quite official yet, but the Falcons have already informed Hodge of his release, per Jordan Schultz. He will join a thin pool of wideouts available in free agency. Hodge appeared in a dozen games in 2025, catching three passes for 31 yards. He is largely a special teamer at this point in his career.

That’s a one-year, $16.3 million contract for Pitts assuming he does not sign an extension off the tag. There have been worse fates. It’s fair to wonder if the Falcons will emphasize Pitts earlier in the pecking order as he carried a very high aDOT (7.2) for a player who garnered over 100 targets last season. Kevin Stefanski had Harold Fannin down at 5.9 in a screen-heavy attack in Cleveland last year. It’s possible Pitts could be a post-post-post-post-hype sleeper this season.

“I think you guys know how I feel about Michael and I’m excited about his trajectory. I also know he’s focused on his rehab, which is the right thing to do,” Stefanski continued. Penix certainly appears to be the starting quarterback on the roster by default, but it’s possible that the Falcons could get involved in free agency to find a bridge quarterback — or perhaps more — to upgrade the room. It’s not as if Penix’s first two years of action were unimpeachable proof he has to start in 2026. It’s a situation to watch as free agency unfolds.

The move will be made on the first day of the 2026 NFL calendar year, according to Cunningham. This was all but confirmed last month when Cousins and the Falcons agreed to a contract modification that guaranteed he’d be gone ahead of the 2026 season. Cousins, 37, should see some interest from quarterback-needy teams in the coming months. Last year Cousins had a career-low 6.3 adjusted yards per attempt and 44.3 percent drop back success rate in five appearances (three starts) for the Falcons.

According to Rapoport, the plan “is to work out a long-term deal” rather than force Pitts to play on the tag. If he does play on the tag, the veteran tight end would receive a guaranteed $15 million next season. Pitts had his best season as a pro in 2025, posting career-highs in receptions (88) and receiving touchdowns (5) while also totaling 928 receiving yards. The 25-year-old playmaker struggled to live up to the lofty expectations he set as a rookie in 2021 when he went for 68-1026-1, but his breakout performance last season made him a player the new regime hopes to hang out to for the foreseeable future. Pitts and the Falcons now have until July to hammer out a new contract before playing on the tag becomes a real possibility.

In an article written by ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Cunningham said the team is “excited about (Penix) and what he’s doing with his rehab,” but didn’t comment on whether he would be locked in as the team’s QB1 for next season. The soon-to-be 26-year-old is rehabbing from a torn ACL he suffered in Week 11, but underwhelmed in his second season, throwing for 1,982-9-3 in the nine starts he made. For his career, Penix has completed just 59.6 percent of his passes while going 4-8 as a starter. With Kirk Cousins likely to be playing elsewhere in 2026, any competition Penix could face for the starting role will likely come from the outside via either the draft or free agency. Penix said during the Super Bowl media week that he “absolutely” expects to be ready by Week 1, but given the timing of his injury, he’ll likely have several hurdles to clear just to be ready in time for training camp. Regardless, we would expect the Falcons to address their QB room in some way this offseason.

Allgeier will probably be one of the highest-regarded backs on the market, and Kendall notes that the Falcons can’t afford to give him starting running back money behind Bijan Robinson. Allgeier could wind up in a terrific fantasy situation this year — the Chiefs and Texans (our speculation) are two rooms he could step into as the lead back easily with real upside — and could find himself in the RB2 tier in the right landing spot.

Rutenberg was one of three finalists for the job and now lands his first defensive coordinator role in the NFL. The longtime coach had previous stints with the 49ers (2020) and Jets (2021-2024), and helped lead a secondary that ranked 13th in passing yards allowed and 13th in net yards per attempt, while also ranking sixth in interceptions. Rutenberg will have big shoes to fill taking over for Jim Schwartz, who resigned after being passed over for the Browns’ head coaching job earlier this offseason.