According to Adam Schefter, the Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers have made a blockbuster trade that will have ramifications for the Atlanta Falcons.
No one trades that much draft capital without taking a quarterback. This almost guarantees that the first three picks of the NFL Draft are going to be quarterbacks.
The Jaguars are going to take Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence. The Jets will take either BYU’s Zach Wilson or Ohio State’s Justin Fields, and now the 49ers will get who the Jets don’t take.
We’ve stated for weeks that if the Falcons were set on getting Fields or Wilson they would need to trade up. If they wanted to trade down, they would need to talk up potential quarterback draft picks Mac Jones of Alabama and Trey Lance of North Dakota State, because teams trading into the Top 5 take quarterbacks.
So if the Falcons want to trade down, they’re going to need to convince teams that a quarterback is on the table.
The price to trade into the Top 5 is a steep one. San Francisco gives up an extra 3rd round pick and two No. 1s to move up to take either Wilson or Fields.
If the Falcons stay put at No. 4, offensive tackle Penei Sewell of Oregon could make the most sense. Micah Parsons, the linebacker out of Penn State, put himself into Top 5 contention yesterday with a blistering 4.39 forty at 246 pounds.
There’s also been some chatter around hybrid tight end Kyle Pitts of Florida. He’s a physical freak in the Calvin Johnson/Julio Jones mold, but do the Falcons really need another pass catcher?
Ideally, the Falcons would like to trade down. They aren’t completely in a rebuild right now, but they would have loved to have been in the position the Dolphins found themselves in. Miami drops to the 12th pick, can still get an elite receiver and picks up two more 1st round picks and a third?
It has to feel like Christmas in Miami right now.
Atlanta has a little more work to do. The Falcons officials were in Alabama for Mac Jones pro day and they attended Trey Lance’s pro day in North Dakota as well. The Falcons may be interested in those two quarterbacks, but it will benefit them more to show interest and convince a quarterback needy team that Atlanta has genuine interest.
Philadelphia at No. 6 and Carolina at No. 8 just became that much more desperate for a trading partner, knowing that Fields, Wilson, and Lawerence are not available… unless someone makes the Jaguars or Jets an even crazier offer than the Dolphins just received.
Update 2:00 PM EST – The extra picks were burning a hole in the Dolphins pockets, and they traded back up to No. 6. That effectively takes Philadelphia out of contention to move up to No. 4.
The bar to get one of the franchise quarterbacks has been set awfully high at three 1st round picks and a 3rd rounder. Atlanta won’t get a package anywhere near that high for Lance or Jones, but I still believe they’d listen to trade offers to move back in this draft and address multiple needs.
I’ve said for weeks that the Falcons weren’t going to get Fields or Wilson. So get ready for the Lance/Jones smokescreens. There are only a couple of players I wouldn’t mind at No. 4 if the Falcons don’t trade down. Penei Sewell… and honestly, even though it’s not a position of need, who DOESN’T need a 6’3/246 4.39 LB like Micah Parsons on their team?