Justin Fields, Ohio State
Atlanta Falcons News NFL Draft

Falcons still Shopping No. 4

The Atlanta Falcons won’t say “no” to the right offer for their No. 4 draft pick in tomorrow night’s draft, but they have yet to receive an offer good enough to move down.

There are several assumptions playing into the Falcons favor when it comes to trading down.

1. There are five elite quarterbacks in this draft
2. The first three picks are going to be quarterbacks
3. The Falcons are not one player away from competing for championships

Every team that has traded into the Top 5 of the NFL Draft the last 10 years has taken a quarterback. The Falcons sitting at four are the first team in the draft that doesn’t necessarily need to draft a quarterback.

Getting their quarterback of the future still makes sense, considering Matt Ryan will enter the 2021 season at 36 years old. But if the right trade partner were to come along, like the 49ers and their three first round picks to the Dolphins, Atlanta would be crazy not to trade down.

However, according to Jeff Schultz, that offer has yet to come. 

The Falcons are still in a tough salary cap situation and will have to clear some room to even sign this years draft class, and Julio Jones could represent the biggest move to clear space. If the Falcons are looking to move Jones and get a ready made replacement, they could take Florida tight end Kyle Pitts who compares more with Jones and Calvin Johnson than he does Tony Gonzalez.

The draft is loaded at the top with either quarterback prospects or elite players. Ideally if the Falcons could stay in the Top 12 and add several more high round picks, they could still draft an impact player like cornerbacks Patrick Surtain or Jaycee Horn of Alabama and South Carolina respectively. They then could use the extra picks to try and address some of the other gaping holes on defense like safety and defensive line.

The Denver Broncos could be a team looking to move up from No. 9. They aren’t completely sold on Drew Lock and would be a good trade partner for the Falcons.

But if teams want to get the Falcons pick at No. 4, they’re going to have to come up with a big offer, because the players at the top of this draft will demand a premium.

Scott Kennedy
Scott Kennedy is an Atlanta native and 20 year media veteran including time as Director of Scouting at Scout.com, Managing Editor at 247Sports, VP Content Operations at Sports Illustrated and more. Scott has appeared as a recruiting and NFL Draft analyst on dozens of media including ESPN, NFL Network, USA Today, NY Times, and more.
https://allfalcons.com

2 Replies to “Falcons still Shopping No. 4

  1. LOL- “no one knows who the Jets are taking”?? “99% chance the Niners take Mac Jones” just a few days before the draft?? Talk about arrogance.

    Pathetic the depths SI has fallen. Guess that’s what happens when the people who destroyed scout.com are or were in charge of SI

    1. I still think the 49ers overpaid for that pick. I still liked Justin Fields ahead of Lance and Jones. That was the type of offer I was hoping the Falcons would have gotten, but they needed to be one pick higher. I still wonder what the best offer the Falcons got at #4… what they turned down?

Comments are closed.