Falcons executive Phil Emery will leave his post with the organization, opting to retire after nearly 25 years in NFL front offices. Emery enjoyed two stints with the Falcons, the most recent beginning in 2016.
Best known for his time with the Bears, Emery, 64, broke into the scouting ranks with the then-NFC Central team in the late 1990s and, after time with other organizations, returned to become the team’s GM in 2012. That tenure lasted just three seasons, with Emery and HC Marc Trestman fired after the 2014 campaign ended.
Emery fired longtime Bears HC Lovie Smith in 2013, hiring Trestman, a veteran offensive coordinator who also enjoyed great success in the CFL. The Bears, who went 10-6 in Smith’s final season, completed 8-8 and 5-11 seasons under Trestman.
Emery assembled the most statistically productive wide receiver duo in Bears history, trading for Brandon Marshall in 2012 and pairing him with 2012 second-round pick Alshon Jeffery. The two worked with Jay Cutler, acquired by a previous regime but extended under Emery, before Emery successor Ryan Pace traded Marshall in 2015. The Bears ranked second offensively in 2013, doing so as a Cutler injury helped foster Josh McCown‘s resurgence, and played for the NFC North title in a Week 17 game against the Packers. Back from injury, Aaron Rodgers led the Packers past the Bears in that game. Chicago’s offense then regressed in 2014, and its defense had nosedived during Trestman’s stay.
Prior to his run atop Chicago’s front office, Emery served as the Falcons and Chiefs’ director of scouting. The Falcons assembled part of their early-2010s core during Emery’s initial Atlanta stint, when the team drafted Roddy White and Matt Ryan. Emery spent much of the 1980s and ’90s as a college strength and conditioning coach.
Following the Bears ouster, Emery returned to the Falcons in 2016, when the team hired both he and ex-Titans GM Ruston Webster as national scouts. Although current GM Terry Fontenot had not worked with Emery previously, he kept the veteran personnel man on upon being hired in 2021. Emery and Webster moved into senior personnel executive roles upon Fontenot’s arrival.
“It’s not just the fact you have that knowledge; it’s the willingness to share it,” Fontenot said of Emery. “That was a great thing about Phil. He was great in the room and is passionate about the game and its details. To hear him talk about a player was so valuable. He was open and willing to share his experience, whether something went well, or it didn’t. The wisdom and openness was so huge for us.”
A few Falcons staffers have moved on this offseason. The Titans hired Anthony Robinson as their co-assistant GM, and the Cardinals’ new front office staff now includes ex-Falcons staffer Rob Kisiel.