The Falcons only have five picks in next week’s NFL draft thanks to Noisegate (fifth-round pick forfeited) and the Andy Levitre trade last September (sixth-round pick). GM Thomas Dimitroff has said repeatedly that the Falcons plan to be “creative” in the draft, which AJC colleague D. Orlando Ledbetter interprets that to mean the team is seeking to trade down.
I think that trading down to accumulate more draft picks would be the right move for the Falcons. Dimitroff’s propensity for trading up in drafts during his tenure means the Falcons have had relatively few picks over the years.