5 NFL teams that could hire Marvin Lewis in 2020

1. Atlanta Falcons

Injuries depleted the Falcons’ defense last year, so the unit gets a bit of a mulligan from a broad perspective. But head coach Dan Quinn has given himself full ownership of the unit, taking over coordinator duties after deciding not to replace Marquand Manuel with another coach.

Quinn has to be feeling some heat after last year’s 7-9 mark, so he’s going all-in to fix the unit that has to improve and the side of the ball he made his bones on as defensive coordinator of the Seahawks before getting the job in Atlanta.

He also made an offensive coordinator change, firing Steve Sarkisian and bringing in former Buccaneers’ head coach Dirk Koetter.

But if the Falcons underachieve again, it will likely be because the defense was not up to par again. Quinn is embracing full accountability for how it turns out, personnel shortcomings brought by injury or not.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank may not want to fire Quinn, but another season below .500 in 2019 would really force his hand.

Lewis has the same defensive acumen as Quinn, which doesn’t fit a broader tendency for teams to go with the opposite of what they had, but as a potential replacement as head coach he’ll stand out anyway.

If the Falcons do well this coming season, and Quinn wants to take defensive coordinator responsibilities back off his plate, Lewis would make some sense there too.