Scott Pioli will step down from post with Atlanta Falcons

Former Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli is stepping away from his front office position with the Atlanta Falcons to “pursue other opportunities.”

Former Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli hasn’t been completely in charge of running a front office since he “mutually parted ways” with the team in 2012. Perhaps there’s a new opportunity to do so in front of him now in 2019—maybe the New York Jets—and that is the reason he’s stepped down from his current role as assistant general manager of the Atlanta Falcons.

Pioli has been with the Falcons since 2014 and taking a year off between stints with Kansas City and Atlanta. He’s served as a right hand of GM Thomas Dimitroff in that time and helped the Falcons make the 2016 Super Bowl.

Pioli was once the most heralded front office executive in the NFL as a longtime associate of Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. Numerous teams tried to hire him away, and when he first landed in Kansas City, it was considered a major get in 2009. Unfortunately, the personnel moves never matched the reputation and his relationship with hand-picked head coach Todd Haley quickly soured. It wasn’t long until Pioli’s own controlling ways became quite old in Kansas City.

"“After careful consideration and ongoing dialogue with Thomas over the past year I have decided to step away from my position as the assistant general manager of the Atlanta Falcons to pursue other potential opportunities,” Pioli said."

It’s uncertain what those opportunities are, but it’s curious timing given that the Jets just fired their general manager at an odd time of year after the NFL Draft has wrapped. Mike Maccagnan was let go earlier this week and head coach Adam Gase was given the interim GM title until a new permanent situation can be arranged. Then again, there’s nothing official or even a rumor linking Pioli with the Jets, save for the timing.