The Atlanta Falcons are “open to leave” from fourth place in this month’s NFL draft, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter, as the draft’s first three choices appear to be stuck.
Defenders are expected to be defeated in the first three teams.
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence is widely expected to be taken first by the Jacksonville Jaguars, while the New York Jets signaled that they will recruit a quarterback in second place when they negotiated Sam Darnold for the Carolina Panthers on Monday. The San Francisco 49ers, on the other hand, rose from 12th to 3rd place and stated that it did so with the intention of climbing a defender.
Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said in February that he believed that fourth place was “a privileged place to be”.
“There are so many different scenarios,” Fontenot said at a news conference at the time. “There will be some very good players there at No. 4. We can go up and down and get more choices.
“There are a lot of different scenarios that we really have to go through.”
In February, Fontenot said that the Falcons always talk to the teams, but no matter what he does, there will be “good value”.
One of these scenarios could be a quarterback – whoever stays on the board after the first three selections. Falcons can also look at an offensive ace, Kyle Pitts, from Florida, or the best striker of the draft, from Penei Sewell, from Oregon. Less likely would be to overflow your reception room with LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase or Jaylen Waddle or Alabama’s DeVonta Smith.
Up to five defenders are expected to be selected in the first round of this year: Lawrence, Zach Wilson of BYU, Mac Jones of Alabama, Trey Lance of the state of North Dakota and Justin Fields of the state of Ohio.
The Falcons do not have an immediate need for a quarterback with Matt Ryan in charge, although he turns 36 when the 2021 season begins. One decision Atlanta has already made is to restructure Ryan’s contract, converting $ 21 million of his base salary this year into a subscription bonus spread over three seasons, raising his salary limit to $ 48,662,500 in 2022.
Of course, at this time of year almost all teams hear calls about possible negotiations – some serious, others not – as the teams try to establish the best possible outcome for their franchise.
“It is not a place where we want to be with this team often,” said Fontenot. “But we are going to take advantage of that and be open to all possibilities.”