Falcons’ Quinn, Dimitroff keep coach, GM jobs
ATLANTA — Wrapping up another disappointing season but buoyed by a strong finish, the Atlanta Falcons announced Friday they are keeping coach Dan Quinn in 2020.
Owner Arthur Blank also decided to retain general manager Thomas Dimitroff for next season, though there will be organizational changes that restore president and CEO Rich McKay to a more prominent role in football operations.
In another change, Quinn will give up the dual role as defensive coordinator that he took on this year. Raheem Morris will get the job, hardly a surprise after he switched to the defensive staff at midseason and sparked a major turnaround.
Blank made the decision before the Falcons (6-9) travel to Tampa Bay for the season finale Sunday, removing Atlanta from the list of teams that might be heading for a coaching change.
Perhaps the most surprising development was McKay reclaiming a major role on the football side.
A former general manager with both the Falcons and the Buccaneers, McKay was bumped upstairs when Dimitroff was hired as GM in 2008. Since then, McKay has largely concentrated on business operations, most notably heading up the development of the team’s new retractable-roof stadium, which opened in 2017.
Now, Quinn and Dimitroff will report directly to McKay, with Blank retaining oversight of football operations. McKay will become the direct conduit to the owner on all football-related matters.
Quinn clearly saved his job with a 5-2 record over the second half of the season, including the current three-game winning streak.
Quinn has a record of 42-37 as he completes his fifth season as Atlanta’s coach. During the 2016 season, he led the team to only the second Super Bowl appearance in franchise history, where the Falcons infamously squandered a 28-3 lead in the second half before losing to the New England Patriots in overtime.
Brown works out for New Orleans
Saints coach Sean Payton says the club has no immediate plans to sign Antonio Brown after including him in a workout with six free-agent receivers Friday morning.
Payton says the Saints are mainly doing their due diligence “on all of those players” and looking at how available players can help the team as it prepares to enter the playoffs.
Brown has not played since New England cut him Sept. 20 amid multiple sexual assault accusations, which have spawned an ongoing league investigation of the receiver.
Payton says the team would still have to seek information from the NFL on whether it would allow Brown to play if New Orleans chose to sign him.
Brown, a four-time All-Pro, has been dumped by three teams since the end of last season. He was benched by the Steelers after he was a no-show in the days leading up to the club’s season finale.
The Steelers traded him to Oakland, which signed him to a contract that would have paid him up to $50 million over the next three seasons, only to release him before he’d played a game.
Odds and ends
Eagles tight end Zach Ertz was ruled out of the team’s Week 17 matchup against the Giants. … Chargers left tackle Russell Okung will miss Sunday’s game at Kansas City because of a groin injury.