FLOWERY BRANCH — In Friday night’s late hours, Terry Fontenot was at it again.
For the second time in two days and the fifth time in his tenure as Falcons general manager, Fontenot eschewed patience and bet on himself by trading up to make sure he got the player he coveted.
With the Falcons’ third-round pick (the 101st overall) approaching and worried that another team would take the player they really wanted, Fontenot traded that pick and the team’s 2026 fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles to move up five spots and take Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts with the 96th overall pick.
Said Fontenot, “When you have that much conviction on a player and we have intel about where a player can go and, again, that’s where we’re really working and figuring things out so we know we need to get up to a certain spot — if a player’s that good, then we’re going to be aggressive and go up and get him.”
This was a day after Fontenot made a trade with the Los Angeles Rams to move up from the second round to the first to take Tennessee outside linebacker James Pearce Jr. The Falcons were widely pilloried for the swap to secure Pearce, selected 26th overall.
The Falcons sent the Rams their second-round pick (46th overall), their seventh-round pick (No. 242) and their 2026 first-round pick to get the Rams’ No. 26 pick and their third-round pick (No. 101).
Fontenot defended it by saying that the Falcons essentially made Pearce their first-round pick for 2026, just a year early, and traded a second-round pick for the Rams’ third-round pick to make it happen.
Much of the criticism was based on the logic that, in a draft deep with edge rushers like Pearce, the Falcons could have waited and picked one with their No. 46 pick without having to give up their 2026 first-round pick.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
“When you judge things and say if it was a good trade or a bad trade, it’s not about the points and all those things, it’s about the player,” Fontenot said. “And if you hit on a player that makes sense for you and that’s going to end up being a really good player for you, then it was a good trade.”
If Fontenot had a better draft record, this boldness could be celebrated. But it’s not great, and so it’s easy to question the wisdom of his aggressive maneuvers.
There is a school of thought that it’s generally wiser to collect picks by trading back, rather than giving up picks to move forward in the draft. For all of the effort and time that’s put into determining which college prospects are the most apt to pan out, picking the right players remains a highly inexact process.
As such, all the more reason to amass picks and improve your odds than to trust your gut that a player taken near the end of the third round is worth paying a premium to get.
Granted, it’s not always possible to trade down even if you want to. But it’s not always necessary to trade up, either.
Before becoming a college coach with a girlfriend young enough to be his granddaughter, Bill Belichick was renowned for trading back to accumulate picks with the New England Patriots. If arguably the greatest coach in NFL history found an advantage in it, perhaps there’s something to it.
Since becoming the team’s GM after the 2020 season, Fontenot has made six trades during the draft, with five of them moving up, deals that have required the Falcons to give up precious draft capital.
One of the three trade-up moves has worked out, a 2023 trade that ensured the team could pick guard Matthew Bergeron, who has been a starter since his rookie season. Fontenot brought it up Friday.
“I don’t know if we lost (the trade) or not, but I’m good with Matt Bergeron,” Fontenot said.
Ironically, or maybe tellingly, Fontenot’s only move to go down in the draft proved arguably the best of his draft trades. In a 2021 trade of picks with Denver, the Falcons gained a fourth-round pick that turned into center Drew Dalman, one of Fontenot’s two best later-round picks (the other being Tyler Allgeier).
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The urge to trade up is understandable. You have a player that you believe in that you think is much better than the rest of the prospects available. Maybe he also fits a need. And you’re convinced someone else is about to take him before he gets to you.
The trouble is, Fontenot’s own history would urge caution. None of the five players he’s chosen in the third round — the round where he picked Watts — have turned into what you’d call a successful pick.
Offensive tackle Jaylen Mayfield (2021) was cut in his third preseason, a fairly early surrender for a player taken that high. Quarterback Desmond Ridder (2022) was given a shot to be the team’s quarterback of the future in his second season and faltered badly. Outside linebacker DeAngelo Malone (2022) has not done much, nor has defensive lineman Zach Harrison (2023). Outside linebacker Bralen Trice (2024) is an unknown, having torn his ACL in training camp last year.
Further, Fontenot himself described this year’s draft as “very deep” and “very strong.” If that’s the case, it would seem to make it the ideal draft to trade down and collect more picks, or at least be confident that a good player still will be available if you stand pat.
Having a strategy to seek chances to trade down also would have been beneficial given that the team had only five picks to start with after losing its fifth-round pick for tampering and trading the team’s third-round pick to New England last preseason for edge rusher Matthew Judon.
The Falcons have two picks for the final day of the draft, a fourth-rounder and a seventh-rounder. A team that needs depth as it tries to break its seven-year playoff drought will add five drafted players to its roster.
Come the season, the trustworthiness of Fontenot’s convictions will be on full display.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
