Falcons

• D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been hearing for weeks that the Falcons prefer Bears assistant GM Ian Cunningham as their new general manager.
• It is also worth noting that Bears GM Ryan Poles is a close friend of new Falcons president Matt Ryan.
• Jordan Schultz mentions that Falcons DL coach Nate Ollie is drawing outside interest, despite the possibility that he remains on the staff of DC Jeff Ulbrich.

Giants

• Giants HC John Harbaugh on QB Jaxson Dart: “I’m excited about Jaxson Dart. I like his talent and skills, but more than that, I like what he is about. And he is about football. He wants to talk football all the time.” (Salomone)
• Harbaugh on GM Joe Schoen: “The conversations led me to believe there would be great collaboration. … This guy lives and breathes football. His knowledge is deep. He was impressive to me. It was really a joy to talk football and dig into the plans.” (Vacchiano)
• Harbaugh on the Giants’ franchise structure: “We all report to the boss. And the boss is ownership. John Mara is running it and I’m glad he is.” (Garafolo)
• Chris Mara says Schoen remains because “Joe has a really great knowledge of the NFL and they hit it off well.” As for Harbaugh’s power in the organization: “With anybody else, it might not have happened that way.” (Garafolo)
• Schoen says he and Harbaugh will collaborate before adding that the head coach having final say is: “just something that’s on a piece of paper. Doesn’t matter.” (Garafolo)
• Schoen said the plan is for WR Malik Nabers to be ready for the start of training camp and RB Cam Skattebo to be ready for the offseason program after recovering from their respective injuries. (Hughes)
• Dan Duggan has heard that the Giants have strongly recommended OL coach Carmen Bricillo to Harbaugh, as well as TE coach Tim Kelly.

Panthers

Panthers GM Dan Morgan would not commit to the team offering QB Bryce Young an extension when asked by the media following the conclusion of the season.

“We’re still talking through the roster and kind of where things look from the big picture view,” Morgan told Joe Person of The Athletic. “So that’s stuff that’s still up in the air that we’re still working through at this point. I think Bryce has shown flashes of greatness this year against high-level competition. As a team, we weren’t as consistent as we wanted to be on a game-to-game basis, but I think that’s part of what happens when you have a young team.”

Veteran Panthers DT Derrick Brown and G Robert Hunt defended Young and feel that he will continue to grow.

“Bryce has had a damn good year. So many people rag on him, and if it was easy, everybody would play quarterback in the league. But that ain’t quite the case,” Brown said of Young. “I’m just proud of him and his growth throughout the year,” Brown continued. “Standing tall in front of the team no matter if it was (when) we got beat by New England, he’d come into the locker room and have something to say. It’s every single week with that guy becoming the constant leader of this locker room.”

“I think he’s a guy that gets better. The more you put around him, the better he gets,” Hunt added. “We all know how clutch he is. He does some really good things. And obviously, he would tell you the same, there’s probably some things he wants to work on. I don’t know what that would be. … I think every year, though, with reps and reps you get better.”

Despite being backed by his teammates, one anonymous executive and former NFL QB Kurt Warner are both unsure if committing to Young is the right move for the team.

“Tua Tagovailoa had his most success when they were paying him on his rookie deal because you can put more pieces around him. But once they made that move to pay him 50-something million dollars, you start to lose other pieces,” a veteran personnel executive told The Athletic. “And now he’s got to perform even higher because he’s playing with less talent. And he needs all those pieces to win with because you don’t win because of him,” said the official, who was granted anonymity so he could speak openly on the topic. And at this point, I see Bryce Young the same way. If they pay him let’s say $50 million, it wouldn’t hurt them instantly. But over time (it would).”

“When you watch Bryce, his feet are together. Sometimes they’re sideways. He’s kind of bouncing up in the air and trying to feel it. I don’t know if some of that has to do with his height and size. The point being is so now when he decides to throw, he’s gotta either get into position or he’s gotta try to create power from out of position,” Warner said in a phone interview. “And when you’re already limited somewhat physically, you have some balls that hang on you, that don’t get there. Or you’re a little bit late on the throw because you weren’t quite ready to throw it and you’re not ripping it 100 miles an hour.”

The post NFC Notes: John Harbaugh, Bryce Young, Falcons, Giants, Panthers appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.