In his first days on the job, Ian Cunningham united Atlanta's coordinators and scouts around clear priorities: identify dominant traits, communicate constantly and build with purpose.
Tori McElhaney
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. It was Ian Cunningham's second day on the job as the Atlanta Falcons' newest general manager. With the NFL Scouting Combine less than three weeks away and the first wave of free agency a month out, there was no time to waste.
Cunningham understood that. One of the first meetings he called reflected as much.
He quickly gathered offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich with the Falcons' scouts. The agenda was extensive: Rees and Ulbrich walked through the roster as currently constructed, outlined their vision for each unit and detailed the physical and mental traits they value in players.
For most, that would be an ambitious undertaking. For Rees and Ulbrich, it was routine. Welcomed, even.
"If there wasn't a time limit," head coach Kevin Stefanski said, "they would still be going."
The meeting laid the groundwork for an offseason that will move quickly. Free agency opens next week. The draft is two months away. With significant changes in leadership across the organization, the Falcons are operating with urgency. They have to.
The collaboration did not end when the meeting adjourned. In the weeks since, texts from Cunningham have flooded the Falcons coordinators' inboxes.
"It's constant communication as we go," Cunningham said, "sending Brich or sending Tommy players who pique my interest or guys I think they may like or guys I want to confirm: Is this the skillset that you mean when you say this linebacker or this corner or this receiver?"
Stefanski said the foundation for that process was evident in the preparation Rees and Ulbrich brought to the February meeting, held just two days into Cunningham's tenure.
Without a first-round pick, the Falcons must be realistic in their evaluations. Stefanski noted the coordinators reflected that approach in the examples they presented.
"What the coaches did a nice job of is they showed some examples of guys who were fifth-round picks, seventh-round picks," Stefanski said. "They would show a trait that was there that showed what we do, and not being so unrealistic if you will. I thought the coaches did a really nice job of painting a picture of players that have been acquired, not just in the first round, but later on or through free agency, that you have seen their usage be dependent on the player, their skill."
Ultimately, Stefanski said, the Falcons are searching for players with one "dominant trait."
Because: "If you have one dominant trait, we will find a way to exploit it."
In a matter of days, the tone inside the Falcons' facility shifted from transition to intention. From that first extended meeting to the steady stream of follow-up messages, Cunningham and his staff have established a clear standard: every decision will be deliberate, every trait evaluated with purpose.
With no first-round pick and little time to spare, the Falcons are not chasing headlines. They are chasing clarity, and the kind of dominant traits they believe can make the difference on Sundays.
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