Unlike many teams near the bottom of the NFL standings, the Atlanta Falcons are nowhere near as terrible as their 4-9 record would lead you to think. They certainly don't do anything to wow you on Sundays, but that feels more like an indication of poor coaching, because the roster's pretty solid.
The first step for the Dirty Birds to snap their eight-year playoff drought is to overhaul the coaching staff, but even then, they're still a piece or two away from contending. The silver lining of this disaster season was supposed to be having an early first-round pick, but they don't even own their selection.
That pick now belongs to the Rams by virtue of the James Pearce Jr. trade Terry Fontenot made to jump back into the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft. And while Pearce has been an absolute stud as of late, trading a pick that could be inside the top five of an elite draft class definitely stings.
Rams utilize Falcons' first-round draft pick to trade up to the top of the draft board
In Trevor Sikkema's latest mock draft for Pro Football Focus, he had the Rams using Atlanta's first-round pick to swing a blockbuster trade with the New York Giants to move up to the No. 1 overall pick. Los Angeles traded two 2026 first-round picks to the Giants to move up eight spots.
It's an aggressive move to help Sean McVay draft a successor to Matthew Stafford, but a necessary one. With the No. 1 pick, Sikkema had the Rams selecting Indiana's Fernando Mendoza, who is the runaway favorite to be the Heisman winner and the first quarterback selected this coming April.
Stafford turns 38 in February, and McVay likely knows the Rams won't have the luxury of picking this high in the draft again, which is why they strike while the iron is hot. And it's not like they mortgaged their entire future to move up, as Fontenot made it possible by offering a trade they couldn't refuse.
Mendoza is undoubtedly the best quarterback in the draft class, as he led the Hoosiers to their best season in program history this season, and should immediately translate to the NFL. But the Giants are also satisfied with this ground-breaking outcome.
The picks the Rams traded in this hypothetical scenario are the ninth and 31st overall selections, so the Giants returned strong value. Sikkema has the Giants selecting Carnell Tate at No. 9 and coincidentally, A.J. Terrell's little brother Aveion Terrell is headed to New York at No. 31 overall.
While the Rams and Giants fill needs and come away better off, the big losers here are the Falcons.