Falcons Targeting Former Bears Scout for Front-Office Position

The Atlanta Falcons' front office is continuing to expand, with Ian Cunningham adding several former colleagues from the Bears and Eagles.

The Falcons are adding more new voices to their front office | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Falcons’ new-look front office is continuing to grow. Fresh off their first draft under general manager Ian Cunningham and president of football Matt Ryan, the Falcons are adding to their department. According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, the Falcons are reportedly hiring Keith Earle from the Chicago Bears as an area scout.

Earle has prior ties to Cunningham, overlapping with him during a 2021 stint with the Philadelphia Eagles and again more recently in Chicago, where Cunningham spent the previous four seasons. A former linebacker at Lafayette College, Earle served as a scouting assistant for the Bears from 2022 to 2024, before being elevated to an area scout last year – he will hold that same position with the Falcons. 

As the first draft of Cunningham’s tenure has wrapped up, he looks ahead to a 2027 class that is full of talent, bringing in a familiar, trusted evaluator to help him shape a roster that he is looking to build for sustained success. 

Adding Earle is not the only move the Falcons have made regarding their front office this week, as the Falcons added Eagles exec Bryce Johnston as SVP of Football Administration/Senior Personnel Executive. 

This specific hire has been well-regarded around the league, with NFL reporter Albert Breer noting that sources within the Eagles’ organization believe Cunningham has effectively “pulled off a coup” in prying Johnston away from Philadelphia. 

Atlanta’s struggles to build through the draft in recent years were a driving force behind this offseason’s front office overhaul. They fired former general manager Terry Fontenot after five seasons, a stretch in which Atlanta failed to reach the postseason a single time. 

The lack of long-term return from recent draft classes only reinforced the need for change. Of the nine players selected in 2021, only tight end Kyle Pitts remains with the team five years later. 

The 2022 class has not fared much better – just four of the eight players Atlanta drafted made the 53-man roster last season: Drake London, Arnold Ebiketie, DeAngelo Malone, and Troy Andersen. Ebiketie departed in free agency this offseason, while Andersen hasn't seen the field since Week 14 of the 2024 season. 

This track record is exactly what the Falcons are looking to reverse. 

Atlanta brought Cunningham on board to reshape roster construction going forward, and now adds another former member of the Bears in Earle. Chicago’s jump from seven wins in 2023 to 11 and a vision title two years later was fueled in large part by strong drafting, a blueprint Atlanta is clearly aiming to follow. 

If Cunningham and his revamped staff can replicate that model, additions like Keith Earle could play a key role in accelerating the Atlanta Falcons' rebuild and lead to long-term and sustained success.

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