The Atlanta Falcons have lost a member of the front office for the second consecutive year to another franchise hiring a general manager.

Dave Caldwell departed to join the Jacksonville Jaguars this week and the Falcons have moved swiftly to replace him by promoting Lional Vital into the role of director of player personnel. That is the position Caldwell held and Vital was previously the associate director of player personnel.

“We are pleased to announce that we have promoted Lionel Vital to our director of player personnel,” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said in a statement released by the club. “Lionel has assisted in constructing our roster over the last five seasons and has been instrumental in our draft process and free agent acquisitions. He has over 20 years of scouting experience and has had the opportunity to work under team builders like Ozzie Newsome and Bill Belichick during his career. Lionel is a vital member of our scouting team and we are happy that he will continue to be a member of our organization.”

Last offseason, Les Snead left Atlanta to become the general manager in St. Louis. If the Falcons can continue to have success on the field, more front office members will likely reap the benefits.

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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune