Exclusive interview with GM Ian Cunningham on 2026 initial 53-man roster | Atlanta Falcons

We welcome you back to Ticketmaster Studios right after we wrapped up 2026 [music] AT&T Training Camp. I'm Taylor Bisciotti and I'm joined here now by General Manager Ian Cunningham. Thank you so much for joining me today. >> Thanks [music] for having me, Taylor. >> It's been um a wild off-season for you. Obviously, first year as a general manager, but I mean I >> [music] >> I was thinking about before we got in here about free agency and the draft and all the moves that you made during training camp. Looking back on this first off-season for you, what's kind of been your favorite part so far? >> Oh, man. This is It feels like it's a little bit of a a whirlwind. Um it's it feels great to to be where we're at right now, but um you know, just getting in the building and getting to know the people. Uh you know, we have some really great people here already and then to be able to bring in uh people like uh Jeff Scott, our assistant GM, uh Bryce Johnston, Shawn Heilbron, uh Justin Hickman, some new new new faces to kind of blend with some of the old have been really good and it's really helped me um just feel a little bit better in my position because I know I have some people that uh know me, know my personality, know what the expectations are, but um really can push me as well um and push some thoughts. So, uh it's the best part is just being able to work together and work with a lot of really good people and and try to push this thing forward. >> Well, you and the staff that you brought in, you guys put together a 90-man roster and then going to training camp, you're trying to figure out what 53 will make the initial roster. So, as you enter training camp, what was the goal for you guys and your staff and what you wanted to see from this team? >> Yeah, just uh who can who can continuously uh stack days, right? And who was going to rise to the occasion. Feel like Kevin and his staff put together a great plan. Um they made it challenging, they made it tough. You know, we had some live periods, uh which was good for us and and in evaluation and it was good to be able to go to Indianapolis, too, and get to go against another team to kind of see where we stacked up against them. Uh but we were just we were looking at to see what players were going to be able to continuously get better. Um who could run the offense and defense uh like the coaches wanted. And then ultimately we had some tough decisions to make once we got to to the end of training camp um with certain decisions. Um but I feel good with the process that got us to to those decisions. >> We'll get to the 53-man roster in a second here, but I do want to talk about all the extensions that you guys were able to get done early in the off season and throughout training camp. I mean everyone pretty much on the offense was extended, right? Kyle Pitts, Drake London, um Bijan Robinson, and then my Matthew Bergeron. Kind of talk to me about what the processes were for those guys in getting them to extended or a new contract and getting pen to paper. >> Yeah, you know, I said it earlier. I feel like the you know, certain certain guys, a lot of the guys were uh on top of mind, but really have to kind of compartmentalize where you're at in the year. Uh I think it's a communication, uh communication with agents, communication with the players to let them know like, "Hey, we're thinking of you. We're going to get to you." Um and then when it was their time and when it was our time to to really focus on that. Prior to that, we'd done a lot of uh market analysis and a lot of planning for that, so we were prepared to go into those negotiations. Um but once we entered those negotiations, it wasn't like we were just working on one negotiate at one negotiation at a time. Um we were working on several negotiations all all at the same time all the way up until the the last one when we were able to get uh Bijan done. Uh he was actually the the only one we were working on, but a lot that went into it um like I I touched on before, communication with the players and their representation, uh letting them know where we stood, um market analysis, uh the vision for the future of you know, you mentioned like these guys it just so happened to be they were all on offense, um but you know, our philosophy is to retain our own, right? And um it says something when they do what we need them to do on the field, in the locker room, in the community, we want to make sure that we reward those players um and feel like really good about those players that we were able to to lock pen to paper. >> Kind of staying on the offensive side of the ball, I do want to talk about the quarterbacks because you guys, along with four other or three other organizations, excuse me, decided to keep four quarterbacks on your roster. I'm just going to ask bluntly, why keep four? >> Yeah, unique unique situation, right? Um you know, we entered we entered training camp with three of our four quarterbacks injured, banged up. Uh you know, uh but I tell our guys all the time, the sky's not falling, right? So, where's our pivot point? And uh fortunately enough for us, you know, we had a a player like Cooper Rush that was available who's been a backup in this league for a long time, who's had starts in this league um and done well. And when we needed to get him a healthy quarterback in, we were able to get a veteran quarterback like him in at that point. So, to be able to sign him then and then know that we have a Division II rookie quarterback, undrafted quarterback from Minnesota State Moorhead coming in and he's leading the ones, um that's tough to do, but he did a great job, you know? Um so, and throughout training camp, you know, Coop and Jack, they just showed that they kept stacking days and getting better and with their opportunities. And Tui started to get healthy, Michael started to get healthy. Um so, at that point, it's just kind of weighing all the options of all right, you know, we've had some injuries, we've had some being banged up at that position. It's just really insurance policies, but also rewarding those guys for the for the uh training camp that they had. >> You bring up Michael Penix, I'm so glad you did because towards the end of training camp, he was cleared for 11-on-11s. Can you kind of give us an update on what you've been seeing from Michael so far? >> Yeah, um the good thing about it, we had the plan put together all the way from OTAs just in terms of with our, you know, return to play staff, um with our coaching staff, Tommy, AVP, Kevin. Uh and, you know, him coming into training camp knowing that he wasn't um ready for 11 on 11 yet, but the the 7 on 7 work we were able to get with him. And as you guys have seen, you know, he was out there. Tommy was throwing bags at him just trying to simulate some contact or having to hip have a move off the spot. So, we were really intentional with how we were trying to get him prepared for the 11 on 11 work. Then once the 11 on 11 came, you know, you've seen him roll out and and show his legs a little bit. Um it seems like he's gaining more and more confidence. Uh he's made some really nice throws throughout throughout these last few weeks. So, excited for him um and where he's headed. Uh and look forward to seeing seeing what happens here shortly. >> Well, so let me ask you like the million-dollar question that all the fans kind of want to know. Obviously, Kevin Stefanski was asked earlier this week, "When are you going to name a starting quarterback?" And he kind of responded and said, "Whenever they tell me I have to." So, what is your process alongside of the coaching staff in naming a starting quarterback? >> Yeah, it's constant communication just like anything. Just with with every single position on on our roster, uh not just quarterback. We're constantly communicating um what we'd like to see even even down to, you know, special teams with with Auck and and um Black and just trying to figure out ways that we can throw players in certain positions just in the event that, you know, injuries do occur. Um in the event that we need to see them in different spots, different roles. Um so, it's really about communication and making sure that we're in alignment and we see it. And sometimes we don't see it eye to eye, and that's when you have to go back to the tape together a little bit more or have deeper conversations. Um but, we welcome those and feel really good with where we're headed. >> When you first sat down with me right when you became the general manager, you mentioned a couple times that your goal as a GM in this first off season was to elevate the floor. You guys obviously, you and your staff just completed the initial cut down of the initial 53-man roster. In your opinion, looking at what you have right now, how have you been able to elevate that floor? >> We feel good with where we're at right now, but it never stops, right? Never satisfied. Feel like we got to continue to get better. We'll always feel that. We challenge each other. We challenge our staff. We just had a meeting the other day when we were trying to figure out claims, right? And who is there are there any players that we would potentially put claims in? And we had some really good conversations at late at night. And those were some Those were some of the best moments, right? Is when you can have some really, you know, hard conversations about does this player elevate this player? Does it Do they upgrade that player? And then when we come to the decision and we're able to put a claim in and you get that claim, you're excited. Then that person who stood on the table for him is excited, right? And you you give him a pat on the back. But what's even cooler is when they're they're excited because they know they helped the team, right? It's not about them getting it right, it's about us getting it right. So that's that's been fun. We feel like we're constantly going to elevate the floor, and that's what we're looking to continue to do throughout the rest of the season. >> And it's really not just the initial 53, it's also people kind of forget that you guys have to put together a practice squad. And there is kind of an art to figuring out the practice squad. What is your philosophy when it comes to putting together those guys? >> Yeah, you There's a little bit of It's a little bit art, a little bit science. You know, feel like we've got four guys four offensive linemen on practice squad. Believe three defensive linemen on practice squad. So 13 defensive linemen total, 14 deep offensive linemen total. So again, philosophically, that's what we believe in. Believe in building through the trenches and creating a lot of competition there. Um we've got players that have started and played meaningful snaps in the NFL on our practice squad, and we have some young players that we believe in and that we're looking at to develop that could potentially be backups and starters in this league. So, um what it does is create, again, more competition throughout the roster. It's going to help our players during practice get better, so they're getting real exposure, real um competition so that they can be better prepared for when they go into the game. But uh just like we are, we're constantly looking to to elevate and and grow and create that competition, but um excited with where we're at right now. Um excited with how things are are sitting right now, and then uh looking forward to seeing how we practice here moving forward. >> I know at the beginning of training camp, all of us um on the media side of the Falcons organization were telling fans like, "Look at special teams during training camp because that's where the roster will be made for some of these guys that are trying to make it." And I know that Craig Aukerman, the special teams coordinator, is all about it's not just the third and forgotten phase, it is an equal phase in this game. When you get into the room to make those cuts and make those roster decisions, how did special teams play a part in it? >> A big part. I mean, uh Auck and uh Jeff and all of our staff, we we we talked a lot. Um feels like we we talked at least, you know, every 10 days just in terms of all right, what are the spots that for you on punt? Or what are the spots for you on kickoff return that you're most concerned about? What are you looking for in the in certain roles, whether it be a guard or a wing on punt? Um whether it be a off returner on kickoff return, right? We're having those conversations. Um but to your point, yeah, like special teams is just as equal as offense and defense, and you can win win and lose games on special teams, so So, it's really important. But proud of of some of these guys and what they've been able to show like a guy like Malcolm DeWalt, right? The first game um of the preseason, he showed what he was able to do as a gunner um in other phases as as well as on on defense. So, this is a guy that earned a role on our active roster because of what he was able to contribute on defense, but also with his upside on on uh special teams. >> And I want to talk about the defense really fast because last year uh Jeff Ulbrich and this defensive front set a franchise record in sacks. This year with the roster that you guys have constructed, only four of the guys that contributed at least one sack last season will be on the active roster, meaning it's almost an entirely new front even into the second and third level as well. What do you expect from what you've given Jeff Ulbrich in terms of a roster to work with and how he's he'll be able to find sacks and maybe blitzes along the way this season? >> Yeah, you just hit it with blitzes. I think uh Brick is one of the better minds in the NFL in terms of being able to create um manufacture rush um just with his ability to find um to beat offensive lines with whether it be, you know, five or six, how many ever he wants to bring, um as well as stunts. And Nate Ali and Barrett and all of our defensive staff do a tremendous job of getting getting their guys ready um excited with some of the young talent that we're able to bring in. Um understand that that sacks is a big part of the game, but at the end of the day, we're looking for W's, not just stats, right? And so, whatever we can do to um help contribute to that, um maybe it results in 57 sacks again, maybe it's less, but at the end of the day, we're looking for W's and and not just the number of sacks. >> All right, last question for you. You know, I'll let you get on your way cuz I know you're very busy. Why should fans be excited about the 2026 Falcons? >> Yeah, I feel like we've got a uh good group of of young um talent that's uh up and coming. Um I think you you've seen it some in the in the preseason. The energy that this that that this group brings, the camaraderie that they've already shown. Um it the culture that that Kevin and his staff has helped set on the field has has been noticed, right? And I think these guys really enjoy playing for one another. And then our veterans, you know, we've got some really strong veteran leadership in that locker room. You know, I was just down there the other day and and it's a it's a tight-knit group. So, feel like when you usually have a tight-knit group in the locker room and then they have just a little bit of success [music] on the field is contagious, right? And so, looking forward to seeing that [music] catch fire here next week. >> Perfect. Well, Ian, thank you so much. We will see you guys week one up [music] in Pittsburgh as the Falcons take on the Steelers.