Atlanta Falcons

He was the first overall pick in the 2019 draft. And he’s destined to be looking for a new team.

So where will quarterback Kyler Murray’s career continue?

Barring a trade, which is unlikely unless the Cardinals pay a bunch of money and/or attach a draft pick to the sale of cap space, he’ll be cut. The Cardinals already owe Murray $36.8 million for 2026, with another $22.55 million hitting the books in the middle of March. The moment he was placed on injured reserve while recovering from a foot injury, the message was clear — Murray had played his last game for the Cardinals.

For plenty of coaches, there’s a minimum height requirement at the position, and Murray isn’t tall enough to ride the ride. Thus, as a threshold matter, a prospective employer has to be comfortable with Murray’s stature.

Last year, as the trade deadline approached and we poked around regarding the possibility of a trade, we heard that Murray was interested in joining the Raiders or the Vikings. The draw to Las Vegas, however, was offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. He’s now back at the college level.

Would the Vikings want Murray? They could possibly get him for the league minimum of $1.3 million, with the Cardinals paying the balance of his $36.8 million pay. (That’s what the Steelers did in 2024, when signing Russell Wilson and sticking the Broncos with most of his compensation.) The bigger question is whether coach Kevin O’Connell believes Murray would fit the Vikings’ offense.

Here’s another intriguing possibility, in our view: The Falcons. Coach Kevin Stefanski has no apparent qualms regarding shorter quarterbacks; Dillon Gabriel started multiple games for Stefanski and the Browns last year. And Atlanta has plenty of potent offensive weapons, from Bijan Robinson to Drake London to Kyle Pitts Sr.

The X factor in Atlanta will be president of football operations Matt Ryan, a former quarterback who measures six feet, five inches. Ryan may prefer a more traditional quarterback to hold down the fort while Michael Penix Jr. recovers from an ACL tear and the Falcons figure out whether he’s still the guy.

Still, the price could be just right on a one-year deal, for the Vikings, Falcons, or any other team currently looking for a new starter. And the Cardinals will likely be paying Murray a lot of money to play for another team in 2026.

It’s amazing the relationship lasted as long as it did. The Cardinals made it to the playoffs once in Murray’s seven seasons. And the ill-advised homework clause in his second contract drove a wedge that was never going to go away.

The cash and cap realities of that second deal made it hard to sever ties. Even now, it will leave a mark on Arizona’s books.

We’ll see whether Murray and his career record of 38-49-1 can make a mark in a new NFL city.

The Falcons have made another addition to their defensive coaching staff.

The team announced that Patrick Toney will be their defensive pass game coordinator. Toney had agreed to become the new defensive coordinator at Ole Miss earlier this year, but the school will now have to look for someone else to fill that role.

Toney spent the last three seasons as the Cardinals’ defensive backs coach. He was the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Florida in 2022 and the defensive coordinator at Louisiana for two seasons before joining the Gators.

The Falcons also fired assistant defensive line coach LaTroy Lewis on Friday.

Teams making decisions about picking up the fifth-year options on the contracts of their 2023 first-round picks now know how much that will cost.

The NFL revealed the values on Friday afternoon. There are four levels of compensation at each position. Players who have made multiple Pro Bowls as an original selection are at the top followed by players with one Pro Bowl selection and players who have hit playing time milestones before reaching the lowest level.

Panthers quarterback Bryce Young and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud were the first two picks of that draft and both of them reached the playing time level of compensation. That will leave them with fully guaranteed salaries of $25.904 million if the teams decide to exercise the options, but longer-term extensions are also a possibility now that they have finished their third seasons.

The full list of 2023 first-rounders — there were 31 that year because the Dolphins were stripped of their pick — and their fifth-year option salaries appears below:

1. Panthers QB Bryce Young — $25.904 million (playing time).
2. Texans QB C.J. Stroud — $25.904 million (playing time).
3. Texans DE Will Anderson — $21.512 (Pro Bowl).
4. Colts QB Anthony Richardson — $22.483 million (base).
5. Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon — $21.161 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
6. Cardinals OT Paris Johnson — $19.072 million (playing time).
7. Raiders DE Tyree Wilson — $14.475 million (base).
8. Falcons RB Bijan Robinson — $11.323 million (Pro Bowl).
9. Eagles DT Jalen Carter — $27.127 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
10. Bears OT Darnell Wright — $19.072 million (playing time).
11. Titans OG Peter Skoronski — $19.072 million (playing time).
12. Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs — $14.293 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
13. Packers DE Lukas Van Ness — $14.475 million (base).
14. Steelers OT Broderick Jones — $19.072 million (playing time).
15. Jets DE Will McDonald — $14.475 million (base).
16. Rams CB Emmanuel Forbes — $12.633 million (base).
17. Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez — $18.119 million (Pro Bowl).
18. Lions LB Jack Campbell — $21.925 million (Pro Bowl).
19. Buccaneers DT Calijah Kancey — $15.451 (playing time).
20. Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba — $23.852 million (Pro Bowl).
21. Chargers WR Quentin Johnston — $18 million (playing time).
22. Ravens WR Zay Flowers — $27.298 million (multiple Pro Bowls).
23. Vikings WR Jordan Addison — $18 million (playing time).
24. Giants CB Deonte Banks — $12.633 million (base).
25. Bills TE Dalton Kincaid — $8.162 million (base).
26. Jets DT Mazi Smith — $13.391 million (base) Smith was traded to the Jets by the Cowboys.
27. Jaguars OT Anton Harrison — $19.072 million (playing time).
28. Bengals DE Myles Murphy — $14.475 million (base).
29. Saints DT Bryan Bresee — $13.391 million (base).
30. Eagles LB Nolan Smith — $13.752 million (base).
31. Chiefs Felix Anudike-Uzomah — $14.475 million (base).

The NFL set the 2026 salary cap at $301.2 million on Friday and they also revealed the franchise and transition tag numbers that teams will be able to use on their own free agents.

The Cowboys will be using the non-exclusive tag on wide receiver George Pickens and that will carry a salary of $27.298 million for the coming season. Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts has also been tagged and the team will owe him $15.045 million if he plays out the year under the tag.

Non-exclusive tags are set at the higher of the sum of the previous five franchise tags at a player’s position divided by the salary caps for those years or 120 percent of the player’s salary from the previous season. Players who receive that tag can sign offer sheets with other clubs and their original team receives two first-round picks if they choose not to match the offer.

Exclusive franchise tags are also available. The salary is set at the greater of the top five salaries at their position for the previous year or the non-exclusive amount and players who receive that tag cannot negotiate with other clubs.

No players have received a transition tag at this point, but there is some speculation that the Jets will use it for running back Breece Hall. That amount would be $11.323 million, which is derived from the average of the top 10 prior year salaries. Teams can match any offer sheets for players on transition tags, but they do not receive any compensation for choosing not to match.

The non-exclusive franchise tag and transition tag amounts for each position are:

Quarterback: $43.895 million (franchise), $37.833 million (transition)
Running Back: $14.293 million, $11.323 million
Wide Receiver: $27.298 million, $23.852 million
Tight End: $15.045 million, $12.687 million
Offensive Line: $25.773 million, $23.392 million
Defensive End: $24.434 million, $21.512 million
Defensive Tackle: $27.127 million, $22.521 million
Linebacker: $26.865 million, $21.925 million
Cornerback: $21.161 million, $18.119 million
Safety: $20.149 million, $16.012 million
Kicker/Punter: $6.649 million, $6.005 million

The Falcons have fired assistant defensive line coach LaTroy Lewis.

The team issued a statement on Friday morning saying that they were aware of an allegation of violence against a woman against Lewis and that they were “in the process of gathering information” about the incident. The team followed that up by announcing that they have dismissed Lewis on Friday afternoon.

Lewis was an assistant coach at Michigan at the time of the alleged violence and Marc Raimondi of ESPN.com reports that the Ann Arbor Police Department has opened an investigation into those allegations.

Lewis was hired by the Falcons earlier this year. He coached at Michigan in 2023 and 2024 and spent the 2025 on Toledo’s staff.

The Falcons say they are gathering information about an allegation of violence against a woman by assistant defensive line coach LaTroy Lewis.

“We are aware of allegations regarding LaTroy Lewis,” the Falcons said in a statement. “We are in the process of gathering information and will have no further comment at this time.”

The Falcons’ statement comes after social media posts from reporter Justin Spiro detailed allegations of violence that a woman made against Lewis. The allegations stem from Lewis’s time as an assistant coach at Michigan, where he worked in 2023 and 2024.

The 32-year-old Lewis had a brief NFL playing career and has coached at the college level since 2020. The Falcons hired him as assistant defensive line coach this month.

The Falcons have informed wide receiver KhaDarel Hodge that they are releasing him, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.

Hodge went on injured reserve in December with a shoulder injury.

In 12 games last season, Hodge totaled three receptions for 31 yards on offense and nine tackles on special teams. He played 10 percent of the Falcons’ offensive snaps and 72 percent of the special teams snaps in the games he played.

Hodge earned Pro Bowl honors in 2024 for his special teams play.

He spent four seasons with the Falcons after one season with the Rams (2018), two with the Browns (2019-20) and one with the Lions (2021).

The NFL’s Rooney Rule calls for teams that develop minority executives or coaches to receive a pair of third-round picks when they move on to other clubs as General Managers and head coaches, but the Bears are currently not expected to receive those compensatory selections after Ian Cunningham left the team to become the GM in Atlanta.

According to the NFL, the Bears are not getting those picks because president of football Matt Ryan is the top football executive in Atlanta. Ryan said earlier this month that Cunningham is the one “driving the ship” and Cunningham said at a Scouting Combine press conference on Tuesday that the Bears should be getting picks based on his understanding of the rule.

“I haven’t had much time to really dive into the wording of it,” Cunningham said. “It was always my interpretation that if a general manager gets hired, that team would receive two third-round picks. I’m the General Manager. I was hired. I would think that they would get two third-round picks. I don’t know the wording of it. That’s just my perspective. I wouldn’t be sitting here if it weren’t for them giving me that job and helping me grow to get this job right now.”

Bears GM Ryan Poles called it “a little odd” that the Chiefs got picks when he was hired in Chicago and called the entire rule “strange,” but that it is also “very clear” that the Bears should be receiving those picks in the current situation.

The Falcons won’t let tight end Kyle Pitts hit free agency.

Pitts got the franchise tag today, the team announced.

“We’re not in the business of letting go really good players,” Falcons General Manager Ian Cunningham said.

The tag means Pitts has the option to sign a one-year guaranteed contract at a salary of about $16 million for 2026, or he can try to work out a long-term contract with the Falcons. It’s also still possible that the Falcons could agree to trade Pitts to another team that negotiates a long-term deal with him. If he hasn’t signed a long-term deal by July 15, he could only play on a one-year deal for 2026.

The 25-year-old Pitts was the fourth overall pick of the 2021 NFL draft and has played out his five-year rookie contract. He has developed into a solid player, even if he has never made the kind of impact the Falcons expected him to make when they drafted him. The Falcons believe he has a lot of good football ahead of him.

When Ryan Poles left the Chiefs to become the Bears’ General Manager in 2022, the Chiefs got two third-round compensatory picks because Poles is Black and the NFL rewards teams that develop minority head coaches and GMs. Poles is not a fan of that NFL policy.

“I’ll be honest, I think it is a little strange,” Poles said. “At the end of the day you should want to develop your staff regardless of the color of their skin. I think that’s important. I think we take a lot of pride with the Bears in how we have our setup. I take a lot of pride in that, so to be compensated for that is a little strange.”

The Chiefs used one of those third-round picks to draft linebacker Leo Chenal and used the other in a trade for wide receiver Kadarius Toney. Poles said he found it odd to see his old team get players because of him.

“I saw the Chiefs get a pick because of me and then I watch that player go and play, it’s just a little odd,” Poles said. “But at the end of the day if they think that’s what’s best to help incentivize, that’s what they wanted to do.”

The rule is relevant to the Bears this offseason because Ian Cunningham, who is Black, left to become GM of the Falcons — but the Bears are not expected to receive compensatory picks for Cunningham because Matt Ryan, not Cunningham, is viewed as the Falcons’ primary football executive. Poles said that while the rule doesn’t change the way he operates, he does wish the Bears would benefit from it as long as it’s in place.

“At the end of the day, that’s not the purpose of why we develop our staff, but if that’s the rule they have in place, then I think it’s very clear in this situation what should happen,” Poles said. “But we’ll see what they think.”

Poles seemed to be suggesting that the Bears are still holding out hope that they’ll receive two compensatory picks, which would require the NFL reversing course from what it previously said about Ryan being the primary football executive. Those two picks would be helpful to Poles, even if he questions the wisdom of the rule behind them.