[Ben E Lou]

2026 SEASON

KEY RETIREMENTS

None of my players retire this year.

KEY DEPARTURES
(Well, four players are cost over 35% of the salary cap this year: LCB Cobb ($25.68M), SLB Diaz ($25M), MLB England ($21M), and RB Reynolds ($15.33M). Add in four more guys (RT Thompson, SS Quinn, LDT Fulcher, QB Ulufale), and you have around 53% of the cap being spent on 8 players. As a result, I'm having to go with serious mediocrity in my FA signings this year.)
RDT Harvey Acree--like him, can't afford him
TE Dubois--Probably could have afforded him, but wanted to go with Shaun Ashenfelter any way.
WR Gus Lang--I hated to see this have to happen. The former 4(27) pick had been with us for 14 years.

KEY FA ARRIVALS

Well, these guys don't look very "key", but they will all likely be starters, so I guess I should list 'em...

LDE Rickey Lee--run-stopper--5th-year man.

SE Ray Shields--will probably start at Flanker--mediocre 8-year vet

RDE Kyle Collier--another run-stopping journeyman--9-year vet

LT Drew Lofton--With a 5.0 Grade, he's the best new FA I sign this year. 5th-year vet. Only allowed 2 sacks in 13 starts with MN last year. Pretty good pass blocker. Below average run blocker.

TE Butch Franklin--13-year vet will mentor Shaun Ashenfelter for minimum veteran salary.

.

NEW LONG-TERM CONTRACTS

None.

DRAFT

POS	NAME	CUR	FUT	VOL	SOL	40	BP	AGI	COMMENTS	Cur2	Fut2	Cur3	Fut3
1(21)	WILB Edwin Boddy	36	60	96	36	4.78	27	7.44	Kinda weak in run D, but very good elsewhere.	36	60	38	60
2(32)	RB Neal Joseph	43	52	6	28	4.43	21	7.07	Uncanny speed for a 247-pounder!	45	54	48	58
3(32)	LCB A.J. Delgado	23	49	23	28	4.43	23	6.84	Should be a good one.	24	52	28	56
4(32)	LT Leonard Hopper	18	40	98	36	5.03	36	7.72	Best looking T left, and only 2 under contract	18	42	20	47
5(32)	P B.J. Maloney	77	88	60	20	4.72	26	8.15	Hard to pass up this home-town punter	75	87	74	85
6(32)	LDE Harvey Burroughs	20	37	86	27	5.02	29	7.37	Will be moved to RDT.	23	43	25	43
7(32)	LDE Antoine Wiggins	16	32	90	24	4.90	30	7.98	Mr. Irrelevant 2026.	16	31	16	30

RB Glenn Reynolds is going to see his contract expire at the end of this season, and the way things are for me now, cap-wise, there are no guarantees that I'll be able to keep him, thus the pick of a potential starting RB in the 2nd round. Overall, I can be nothing but pleased with this draft.

The Saints will be moving to Austin for the 2031 season.

2026 Exhibition Season				Passing	Rushing	Receiving	Attendance
Week 1	Bye Week
Week 2	6	Baltimore Ravens	23	T.Healy 9-16-89	C.Clemmons 5-28	B.Foster 3-38	67,300
Week 3	20	at Indianapolis Colts	10	T.Healy 12-16-131	C.Clemmons 14-73	D.Crandall 8-102	64,700
Week 4	13	Pittsburgh Steelers	20	M.McInerney 12-20-67	C.Clemmons 23-58	B.Rawlings 3-33	67,300
Week 5	6	at Jacksonville Jaguars	19	T.Healy 11-19-98	K.Ogden 15-61	B.Rawlings 7-90	45,700
2026 Regular Season (12-4)				Passing	Rushing	Receiving	Attendance
Week 1	36	New Orleans Saints	24	L.Ulufale 19-26-280	G.Reynolds 23-159	S.Ashenfelter 5-67	67,300
Week 2	38	at Cleveland Browns	10	L.Ulufale 23-31-188	G.Reynolds 19-115	I.Long 4-78	67,100
Week 3	20	New York Giants	23	L.Ulufale 21-37-332	G.Reynolds 27-63	R.Shields 4-112	67,300
Week 4	20	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	17	L.Ulufale 18-29-273	N.Joseph 6-76	B.Rawlings 3-95	66,900
Week 5	12	Carolina Panthers	6	L.Ulufale 25-40-207	G.Reynolds 18-63	I.Long 3-55	67,300
Week 6	27	Minnesota Vikings	10	L.Ulufale 19-34-177	G.Reynolds 17-46	I.Long 5-76	67,300
Week 7	21	at Green Bay Packers	13	L.Ulufale 18-28-208	L.Ulufale 2-50	R.Shields 2-62	38,600
Week 8	34	Detroit Lions	10	L.Ulufale 20-29-257	T.Davidson 15-86	I.Long 3-76	67,300
Week 9	10	at Chicago Bears	13	L.Ulufale 19-38-206	G.Reynolds 25-53	B.Rawlings 6-85	41,700
Week 10	9	at New Orleans Saints	6	T.Barber 17-28-218	G.Reynolds 18-65	B.Rawlings 6-99	66,700
Week 11	Bye Week
Week 12	3	at Pittsburgh Steelers	21	T.Barber 9-26-100	C.Clemmons 10-24	I.Long 2-34	61,300
Week 13	21	at San Francisco 49ers	3	T.Barber 17-33-146	G.Reynolds 19-175	S.Ashenfelter 4-49	64,300
Week 14	34	Cincinnati Bengals	6	M.Reilly 17-27-219	G.Reynolds 11-40	D.Crandall 2-48	67,300
Week 15	24	at Carolina Panthers	10	T.Barber 14-21-174	G.Reynolds 23-105	R.Shields 5-101	35,900
Week 16	17	Baltimore Ravens	20	T.Barber 17-28-239	G.Reynolds 11-55	B.Rawlings 5-144	67,300
Week 17	23	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	20	T.Barber 15-21-181	G.Reynolds 22-92	B.Rawlings 3-62	67,300
2026 Playoffs				Passing	Rushing	Receiving	Attendance
Division	17	Detroit Lions	16	M.Reilly 9-24-163	G.Reynolds 24-88	S.Ashenfelter 3-79	67,300
Conf.	22	Seattle Seahawks	21	M.Reilly 16-34-229	G.Reynolds 24-116	G.Reynolds 4-70	67,300
Champ.	24	vs Pittsburgh Steelers	6	M.Reilly 20-34-197	G.Reynolds 24-159	R.Shields 4-73	50,500

Yup. Our first back-to-back titles, despite Ulufale suffering a major injury. We signed QB Mack Reilly off of the scrap heap. He was one of the top QB's in the league until a major injury around midseason in 2024. He had not played a single game since then, and was still injured, but three weeks away from a return, when I signed him at the point of Ulufale's injury. Reilly lost a lot, ratings-wise (down to 41/43), and even suffered another minor injury in his second week, but he was good enough to win a championship, relying mainly on the legs of Glenn Reynolds.

I must admit that I'm beginning to lose interest in documenting this career. Part of me would like a fresh start with a league filled with accurate numbers of championship rings and POG awards, and I'm thinking about doing an FOF2K4 version of the House Arrest Challenge. However, the challenge of continuing to win with Glenn Reynolds demanding big bucks, and with Ulufale's ability for next year uncertain is intriguing at this point. I'll play at least a season or two longer with this career, though. To the numbers...

Passing	Att	Comp	Yards	Yd/Att	TD	Int
Luke Ulufale	297	185	2158	7.26	14	2
Terrell Barber	159	90	1060	6.66	3	8
Mack Reilly	32	20	279	8.71	1	1
Team	489	296	3501	7.15	18	11

Rushing	Pos	Att	Yards	Yd/Att	TD
Glenn Reynolds	RB	291	1188	4.08	10
Chad Clemmons	RB	104	321	3.08	2
Trent Davidson	RB	57	275	4.82	2
Team	---	516	2156	4.17	16

Receiving	Pos	Target	Catch	Yards	Yd/Ctch	YAC	TD
Irving Long	SE	84	46	682	14.8	135	9
Blaine Rawlings	FL	79	45	755	16.7	64	3
Glenn Reynolds	RB	57	44	308	7.0	131	3
Ray Shields	FL	91	42	717	17.0	140	2
Shaun Ashenfelter	TE	58	40	426	10.6	131	1
Kerry Ogden	FB	39	34	158	4.6	105	0
Daniel Crandall	SE	34	16	189	11.8	40	0
Team	---	489	296	3501	11.8	837	18

Defense	Pos	Tackle	Assist	Sack	Hurr	Ints	Dfnsd
Harvey Quinn	SS	76	23	2.0	0	1	16
Jermaine Diaz	SLB	73	21	13.5	19	1	9
Donny Barrett	FS	65	13	0.0	0	2	6
Darnell Tanner	LCB	55	10	0.0	1	3	12
Mitch England	MLB	51	15	1.0	0	0	6
Donald Hines	WLB	44	25	2.0	3	0	5
Cornell Singleton	RDT	36	13	4.0	12	0	1
Kyle Collier	RDE	32	8	5.5	7	0	0
Renaldo Blankenhorn	RCB	31	9	0.0	0	3	8
Bennie Cobb	LCB	30	8	0.5	0	2	7
Edwin Boddy	MLB	30	9	0.0	1	0	2
J.J. Wells	FS	26	9	0.0	0	3	4
Jay Webb	LCB	24	7	1.0	1	0	4
Brett Fulcher	LDT	22	7	4.5	4	0	0
Rickey Lee	LDE	21	4	0.0	10	0	0
Kenneth Flannery	SLB	20	5	0.0	0	0	0
A.J. Delgado	LCB	18	5	0.0	1	2	3
Earnest Auyeung	LDT	17	9	6.5	18	0	1
Blaine Rawlings	FL	16	0	0.0	0	0	0
Team	---	779	220	48.0	96	18	92

Atlanta Team Rank Rushes 516 3 Rushing Yards 2156 5 Yards Per Carry 4.17 9 (T) Pass Attempts 489 27 (T) Completions 296 25 Passing Yards 3501 17 Yards Per Attempt 7.15 10 3rd Down Conversions 38.9 26 Points Per Game 21.8 7 Turnovers 19 9 (T) Turnover Margin +1 17

Opponents Team Rank Rushes 402 3 Rushing Yards 1591 4 Yards Per Carry 3.95 15 (T) Pass Attempts 541 28 Completions 252 1 Passing Yards 2912 1 Yards Per Attempt 5.38 1 3rd Down Conversions 31.7 1 Points Per Game 13.2 1 Turnovers 20 25 (T) Turnover Margin -1 16

INJURIES OF NOTE

NAME	TYPE	WEEK INJURED	GAMES MISSED	ORIGINAL WEEKS UNTIL FULL STRENGTH	CURRENT STATUS(at year end))
LT Drew Lofton	Compound Leg Fracture	5	11	36	Out(17)
QB Luke Ulufale	ACL Surgery	10	6	35	Out(25)
SE Irving Long	Repetitive Concussive Syndrome	19	rest of playoffs	89	Out(86)

NEW RECORDS INVOLVING FALCONS

RG Shaun McCormick sets a team record for longevity, surpassing Dixon Mahoney. McCormick has started 181 games as a Falcon.

SLB Jermaine Diaz sets a team single-season record with 13.5 sacks.

ATLANTA AWARDS

SLB Jermaine Diaz--1st Team All Pro

SS Harvey Quinn--2nd Team