Grading four potential draft day Atlanta Falcons trades

Scenario #3: Trade for Titans WR A.J. Brown

Now we’re starting to enter the more unlikely scenarios regarding players that were alluded to by Mr. Rhim. The first of these potential trades begins with the team Atlanta traded arguably the greatest Falcon ever, Julio Jones, to in Tennessee and receive the receiver who lauded for him to come to Nashville in the first place, A.J. Brown.

At first glance, this would be a great pickup for the Falcons, who desperately need wide receiver help, in addition to quarterback, offensive line, defensive line, and basically everywhere else. At the same time, when Brown was selected in the second round (51st overall) of the 2019 draft, he has since demonstrated an impressive ability to snag contested catches from Ryan Tannehill and provide a good body on the outside despite being listed at only six feet tall.

This trade scenario sees the Falcons trade for Brown by offering up three picks in this draft: the 43rd overall pick, the 190th overall pick, and a 2023 fourth-round selection which originally was Tennessee’s in the first place prior to the aforementioned Julio trade. In this, according to Rhim:

"“It has been well documented that Arthur Smith likes to have big physical wide receivers… The Falcons and Titans make a blockbuster receiver in back-to-back off-seasons, and this time Smith is doing backflips, as he gets to reunite with Brown.”"

However, at the same time, Brown is currently in the final year of his rookie deal since, as a second-round pick, he was not eligible for the fifth-year extension and also doesn’t appear to be heading towards a Titans franchise tag in 2023 either. Furthermore, him setting social media ablaze a la Kyler Murray, Deebo Samuel, and others by “archiving” photos and removing “Tennessee” from his bio make fans and the media alike say “What are you waiting for, ? Get this man”.

Well, in Atlanta’s case, even with the projected $100 million in cap space, trading for Brown in the final year would mean the team would most likely have a one-year rental and then have to pony up a minimum of $17-20 million per year with at least $45-55 million fully guaranteed.

The Falcons already did this once with Julio, and we saw how that eventually ended up. While Brown’s a good receiver, respectfully this trade would be a negative outcome for the Falcons.

Verdict: Falcons lose trade, chances of success: Less than 10%