One of the first hires for Terry Fontenot’s regime when he arrived in Atlanta was Chris Olsen, brought on to serve in a director of football administration role after a long stint as a Houston Texans cap guru. It appeared he would survive the wholesale changeover to Matt Ryan and Ian Cunningham in the front office, but it turned out to be more of a stopgap arrangement.
Tom Pelissero reports that Olsen and the team have “parted ways,” which is one of those terms that can be parsed to mean a mutual
decision for an executive to leave or a firing. The Falcons, presumably, will make an external hire to fill the role; it’s worth noting that 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams was a general manager candidate who has been involved with contract negotiations for San Francisco and could be a candidate here.
Over five seasons and one additional offseason in Atlanta, Olsen oversaw a chaotic cap situation for the Falcons that I’m sure he did his best to manage. The team came in with a tight cap situation in 2021, freed up space in 2023 and 2024 to splurge, and then were back with limited dollars in 2025 and 2026. Much of that was out of Olsen’s control—he’s not signing the players, just trying to work out reasonable deals that are as team-friendly as possible—but the Falcons’ new regime was presumably not thrilled with the situation they inherited regardless. They’ll have their own guy in the door ahead of next offseason, when the team will have much more breathing room under the cap and may be looking to hand out long-term deals, instead of the one-year pacts they selected this year.
Olsen’s long experience in the NFL—he started with the league offices in 1994 before joining the Texans in 2007—should mean he’s quickly given an opportunity with a team or the NFL. The Falcons, meanwhile, will seek out their next cap and contract guru. We wish Olsen well wherever he lands.
