Atlanta Falcons: This trade proposal with the New England Patriots is interesting

The Atlanta Falcons hold the most valuable available pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and that has franchises selecting behind them intrigued, to say the least.

The Falcons hold the No. 4 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and while there will be three teams to pick in front of them, none of those organizations are considering trading off their pick and they will all be taking quarterbacks.

The Falcons, however, have continued to smoke-screen what they may do with that pick. They’ve done their due diligence on quarterbacks and have had their names tied to two in particular, in Justin Fields (Ohio State) and Trey Lance (North Dakota State).

They’ve also scouted several other non-QBs and two names that continue to trend with the Falcons are TE Kyle Pitts (Florida) and OT Penei Sewell (Oregon).

This trade proposal from the New England Patriots would be hard to pass up for the Atlanta Falcons

The New England Patriots pick at No. 15 in the draft, but there is no doubt that the franchise would like to move up- under the right circumstances- to take a quarterback.

The Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan proposed a trade that would certainly get the attention of the Atlanta Falcons.

In this trade scenario…

The Falcons get: the No. 15 overall pick, the 46th overall pick, a 2022 first-rounder, and Pro-Bowl CB Stephon Gilmore

The Patriots get: The No. 4 overall pick

Callahan explained that the biggest obstacle in this trade would be the Falcons finding a way to fit Gilmore under their measly amount of cap space. Keep in mind that this is the last year on Gilmore’s deal before he becomes an unrestricted free-agent.

"“Because of the 49ers’ jump, only two of the five best quarterbacks will be available at No. 4, and the number of Atlanta’s potential trade partners has come down, with San Francisco and Carolina now out of the mix,” Callahan wrote. “Having lost that leverage, the Pats should be able to use Gilmore, their best trade chip, in a package of picks to successfully trade up, if they so desire. The only hurdle will be the Falcons fitting Gilmore’s $7.36 million cap hit on their crunched 2021 books and striking a long-term deal to secure him for years to come.”"

This deal checks all the boxes in terms of the Falcons trying to ‘win now’ and ‘build for the future’ all at the same time.

They’d still have the No. 15 overall pick, where they could take a prospect like OL Alijah Vera-Tucker, OT Teven Jenkins, EDGE Jaelan Phillips, EDGE Gregory Rousseau or maybe even WR Jaylen Waddle and then would have two second-rounders, as well as a future first-rounder which can be used for leverage next year.

The questions at cornerback would be answered and pairing Gilmore with A.J. Terrell could give the Falcons potentially the best CB duo in the league.

Perhaps the Falcons still wouldn’t want to move out of that No. 4 spot, but this trade scenario is certainly one that would be enticing for the front-office to consider.