Atlanta Falcons clearly won their first trade of the off-season

The Atlanta Falcons made their first big move of the off-season trading a 7th-round pick for tight-end Jonnu Smith. The deal is an absolute steal for the Falcons bringing in a player who the last time he was paired with Arthur Smith had 448 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns with Ryan Tannehill as his quarterback.

The past two seasons in New England haven’t been as kind but in a far better offensive system paired with Arthur Smith, Jonnu will be closer to the player he was with the Titans.

Smith gives the Falcons a great second option at tight end that will allow Atlanta to use Kyle Pitts in more of a receiver role. Similar to how they used Pitts in his first season with Smith having Jonnu play the prototypical tight-end role.

This is a great move for Desmond Ridder as well providing a third legitimate target behind Pitts and Drake London. While the Falcons could still make a depth move at the position this should lock Atlanta starting tight ends into place.

Smith has 1,841 career receiving yards and 17 touchdowns with the bulk of that production happening in his final two years with the Titans.

Atlanta favors heavy sets and this move gives the team the ability to have Smith, London, Pitts, Allgeier, and Patterson all on the field in short-yardage situations creating a potential myriad of mismatches. It is the perfect move for Arthur Smith’s system and one that continues to illustrate just how great Terry Fontenot is at finding value in unexpected moves.

Smith is expected to restructure his deal to open up further cap space and make his deal more team-friendly. Something the tight end was likely more than willing to do to escape a boring New England offense that continues to head in the wrong direction.