Insider reveals Rich McKay’s role in Falcons not hiring Bill Belichick

Rich McKay is still in the news even though he is no longer with the Falcons.

The Falcons CEO’s responsibilities underwent yet another change earlier in the offseason. In his 20 years in Atlanta, his role has changed multiple times. McKay is leaving the team’s “day-to-day football operations,” according to an announcement made by Arthur Blank. The Falcons experienced the same situation when they hired Mike Smith and Thomas Dimitroff. The Falcons general manager and head coach, Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot, answered directly to McKay. Now, McKay will take over Blank’s MLS team, Atlanta United, and leave the football field to return to the business world. I don’t believe in the Falcons, but it’s obvious that McKay’s voice is still being heard. The recent ESPN report regarding Blank’s capitulation to Robert Kraft’s influence and his Prior to the NFL Draft, lieutenants will be selected to the death, and fresh details keep emerging.

On NBC Sports Boston’s Arbella Early Edition, NFL insider and former Patriots writer Albert Breer suggested that

Blank’s decision to pass on hiring Belichick might have been influenced by

McKay. Regarding what he’s heard about why the Falcons passed on Belichick,

Breer stated, “I think the bigger factor was Rich McKay,” via Yahoo! Sports.

“From what I understand, he gave the impression that everyone in the building

would end up outside if Bill Belichick entered, sooner rather than later.”

Even worse, Breer would later claim that the Falcons executives’ only objective was to further their own careers and

they were pushed to back Raheem Morris over Belichick. “There was, to

some extent, an anti-Bill Belichick campaign going on in that facility,” Breer

continued. “If Arthur Blank is asking individuals within that organization if

they would rather have Raheem Morris or Bill Belichick, It will undoubtedly be

determined by their personal job stability.

This is what’s so bothersome about this entire situation. It’s not that the Falcons got it wrong with Morris instead of Belichick because I do think the eight-time Super Bowl champion wasn’t the right fit in Atlanta.

However, the process is completely flawed. Asking any group of people to put the organization’s interest over their own is a tall task. People have an inherent tendency to protect themselves and their livelihoods.

The Falcons search committee very well could’ve done what they truly thought was best for the organization, without accounting for their own interests, but it brings doubt into the equation.

Atlanta may have gotten it right with Raheem Morris, but Blank’s team is once again making headlines for the wrong reasons. The Falcons have seemingly been the butt of the league’s jokes since 2016.

From the Super Bowl meltdown to Deshaun Watson to Lamar Jackson to Bill Belichick, whether it’s fair or not, the Falcons continue to be a laughingstock to the rest of the NFL, and Rich McKay isn’t helping.