The Atlanta Falcons made a controversial decision by deciding to trade Ruke Orhorhoro to the Jacksonville Jaguars in exchange for Maason Smith. Orhorhoro was finally showing promise and taking some steps in the right direction for Ian Cunningham to up and trade him at his first chance.
On the surface, it looks like the Falcons clearly acquired the worse player. Despite being woefully misused at nose tackle, Orhorhoro recorded some solid pressure numbers in 2025, while Smith was healthy scratched by not one, but two different coaching staffs in Jacksonville, which is a rough sign.
However, this is purely a move where the Dirty Birds are betting on upside. They are hoping to invest more in the trenches with players this new regime actually wants, which seems to benefit some and help others. So here are the two winners and two losers of the swap between Orhorhoro and Smith.
Winner: Nate Ollie
While Orhorhoro has more proven production under his belt than Smith, the latter is both younger and bigger. The 23-year-old is also more of a legit nose tackle, a position where Atlanta needs to add depth after losing David Onyemata, but Smith will be much more of a reclamation project than Ruke.
Despite his lack of production though, the Falcons felt comfortable acquiring him because of defensive line coach Nate Ollie. Ollie is one of the best DL coaches in the NFL, and since he was retained on this new staff, they clearly made this move betting on Ollie to get the most out of Smith.
Winner: LaCale London
LaCale London out-played every defensive tackle the Falcons had in 2025 aside from Brandon Dorlus. In just 13 games (and five starts) in 2025, London recorded a career-high five sacks, all of which came in Atlanta's final nine games of the year, while his seven TFLs also marked a career best.
With Orhorhoro gone, Zach Harrison entering a contract year, and Smith set to play a different role at DT, there's a lot more snaps opened up for London. The 28-year-old will rotate with Dorlus and Harrison on pass-rushing downs, so he could earn himself another nice payday in a contract year.
Loser: Ian Cunningham
For all of the goodwill Cunningham bought in his first offseason as the Falcons' general manager, he undid a lot of that with this move. This isn't the Sydney Brown trade where all Atlanta did was move back a few picks, they really don't stand to benefit at all, especially if the Clemson product breaks out, unless they draft a DT before the weekend ends.
Given all of his talk about adding draft capital, fans wouldn't be mad if this was Smith and another Day 3 pick for Orhorhoro, but a straight-up player swap doesn't exactly accomplish anything for the Falcons, other than being a better scheme fit, but that's not worth trading away the better player.
Loser: Terry Fontenot
Other than Dorlus, Fontenot's 2024 draft class has aged horribly. Michael Penix Jr. has been disappointing, Bralen Trice has yet to play a down of NFL football, and JD Bertrand is on the roster bubble. Yet of those many misses, Orhorhoro may have been the biggest disappointment of them all.
Let me remind you that the Falcons traded up for him in the 2024 Draft, and drafting him at 35 was considered a reach at the time anyways. At least Cunningham has the defense that as a new GM, he doesn't owe the 24-year-old anything, but trading him after two years is a bad look for the old regime.
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