Atlanta Falcons to Add Another Staffer From Cleveland Browns

FLOWERY BRANCH – The Atlanta Falcons have officially hired Shawn Heinlen as director of college scouting, according to a Wednesday morning announcement from the team. He is the latest addition to the staff, joining the Falcons from Cleveland. However, Heinlen also had some time with the Falcons’ new general manager, Ian Cunningham. 

Heinlen has been in the NFL for 27 seasons, with the last four (2022-25) coming with the Browns, where he served as an area scout. Cleveland hired him after two seasons with the Reese’s Senior Bowl (2017-18) and four seasons (2018-21) as a southwest area scout for the Philadelphia Eagles. 

His time in Philadelphia overlapped with Cunningham, who served as the director of college scouting (2017-18), assistant director of player personnel (2019-20), and director of player personnel (2021) before moving to Chicago to become an assistant general manager. They both combined to help the Eagles win the first Super Bowl in franchise history. 

Before Heinlen’s time in Philadelphia, he was with the Buffalo Bills for 16 years. He began his NFL career here as a training camp intern in 1999, before joining the league office as a player personnel analyst in 2000, returning to Buffalo in 2001 to become a college scouting administrator for three seasons (2001-03). He moved up to a college area scout for the franchise over the next 15 years (2003-17).

As an athlete, Heinlen played quarterback at North Central College in Illinois, but transferred to the University of Florida to finish his college education. In Gainesville, he served as a student assistant for the football program. 

Attention from the Falcons will now shift to the college ranks, as the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis kicks off next week. The franchise and its scouting department will be charged with making the most of their limited capital, as they hold just five draft selections. There is speculation that the team could look to trade back to add selections. 

Cunningham has been on the record saying how much he likes having as many swings as possible. 

“I love picks, man, so you use those as currency,” Cunningham said. “Either you can use it as trading up, or you can trade for players, proven players. It allows you more swings at the plate. So, there are different ways you can use them. But that's why we value them. That's why we will value them. We only have five right now, but we only had five in Chicago my first year there, too, [and] I think we ended up with 10. We love those picks, and we're going to build through the draft that way.”

Meetings have been well underway with the team, but Heinlen will slot right into the discussions that will shape the future of the franchise.