Falcons make curious decision before hiring Kevin Stefanski

On Saturday night, the Atlanta Falcons agreed to hire Kevin Stefanski as their next head coach. 

The timing of the hiring was somewhat telling. First, the New York Giants officially hired John Harbaugh, who had been linked to the Green Bay Packers. After the Giants hired Harbaugh, the Packers agreed to an extension with head coach Matt LaFleur. 

The Falcons were considered a potential trade destination if LaFleur didn't agree to the Packers' offer. With no option to land LaFleur, Atlanta quickly signed Stefanski, who was considered to be one of the top candidates in this hiring cycle and was reportedly the Giants’ No. 2 option behind Harbaugh.

One interesting thing to note about the hire is that Atlanta chose not to wait to hire a new general manager before signing Stefanski. On Jan. 10, the Falcons hired Matt Ryan as their new president of football. Ryan appears to be running the show. 

Atlanta owner Arthur Blank explained the dynamics of leadership with the new president of football position. The general manager is expected to report to Ryan.

"Our 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," Blank said, via the Falcons. 

"Final decision-making authority will rest with the president of football... The general manager will do his job, the head coach will do their job. They both will be accountable to the president of football. It'll be a dialog, exchange of ideas, etc."

New Falcons GM missed out on a big decision

Except that there wasn't a "dialog" or "exchange of ideas" between Ryan and a general manager before Atlanta agreed to a deal with a head coach who went 8-26 in his last two seasons as HC of the Cleveland Browns. 

The new dynamic in Atlanta explains why the Chicago Bears would not gain two compensatory draft picks if assistant general manager Ian Cunningham (a candidate for the job) takes the GM job with the Falcons. It's a lateral move to the job he has in Chicago.

The Falcons' general manager job could be a tough sell. While the job should offer better pay than an assistant general manager gig, there's more risk with the dynamic in Atlanta. The new general manager could be the fall guy if Stefanski doesn't work out. And they didn't choose the coach.