The Atlanta Falcons are “open to leaving” the No. 4 pick in this month’s NFL draft, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter, as the top three draft picks appear to be blocked .
It is hoped that quarterbacks can be made with the top three picks.
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence is expected to be taken to No. 1 by the Jacksonville Jaguars, while the New York Jets have indicated they will draft a quarterback at No. 2 when they switched Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers on Monday. The San Francisco 49ers, meanwhile, went from No. 12 to No. 3 and have stated they did so with the intent of drafting a quarterback.
Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said in February that he believed the No. 4 spot was “a prime spot.”
“There are so many different scenarios,” Fontenot said at a press conference at the time. “There will be very good players at number 4. We can go up, we can go down and acquire more selections.
“There are just so many different scenarios to really happen.”
In February, Fontenot said the Falcons always have conversations with teams, but no matter what they do, there will be “good value.”
One of those scenarios could be a quarterback: who stays on the board after the top three picks. The Falcons could also see an offensive lineman Kyle Pitts of Florida or the best linebacker of the draft at Penei Sewell of Oregon. Less likely he would be overflowing his receiver room with LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase or Alabama’s Jaylen Waddle or DeVonta Smith.
Up to five quarterbacks are expected to be selected in this year’s first round: Lawrence, BYU’s Zach Wilson, Alabama’s Mac Jones, North Dakota’s Trey Lance, and Ohio State’s Justin Fields.
The Falcons have no immediate need for the quarterback with Matt Ryan at the helm, though he will be 36 when the 2021 season begins. One decision Atlanta has already made was to restructure Ryan’s contract, converting $ 21 million from the his base salary this year in a three-season signing bonus, which raised his salary cap to $ 48,662,500 by 2022.
Of course, at this time of year almost all teams hear calls about possible operations (some serious, some not), as teams try to establish the best possible outcome for their franchise.
“It’s not a place where we want to be with this team very often,” Fontenot said. “But we will take advantage of it and be open to all possibilities.”