In hiring Matt Ryan as their president of football and Kevin Stefanski as their head coach, the Falcons have crossed two key tasks off their list in the past 10 days. The Falcons still need to choose a general manager, though, and Steelers assistant GM Andy Weidl has emerged as a candidate to replace the fired Terry Fontenot. Weidl will interview for Fontenot’s old job, Mark Kaboly of The Pat McAfee Show reports.
With Ryan in charge of football matters, the Falcons’ GM gig is regarded as a secondary position. That means the Steelers could have blocked Weidl from interviewing with Atlanta, but they’ll instead allow him to discuss the position with Ryan & Co.
Weidl, a Pittsburgh native, began his career with the Steelers as a player personnel assistant in 1999. After working in scouting roles with the Saints and Ravens from 2000-16, he spent six years in the Eagles’ front office.
Weidl, who returned to the Steelers in 2022, crossed paths with Stefanski’s Browns twice in each of the past four seasons. The former AFC North rivals could soon join forces in Atlanta, where Stefanski will have input into the Falcons’ GM decision. While Ryan is atop the Falcons’ football department, he made it clear last week that he won’t meddle with either the head or GM once they’re in place.
“The final decisions that I am going to have to make is who we hire, but we are empowering (the HC and GM) to go out there and do their job and I have expressed that in the interviews that we have had,” Ryan said.
Before hiring Ryan in his new role, the Falcons interviewed Lions chief operating officer Mike Disner, Panthers executive vice president of operations Brandt Tilis, 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams, and Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham for the job. It’s unclear if Ryan will discuss the GM post with any of those four, but we know he’ll talk with Weidl.