We all know by now that Atlanta Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham doesn't play scared. He's willing to capitalize on an opportunity when it comes along or make any trade when the price is right, which is what he just did by sending star safety Jessie Bates III to Jacksonville before the deadline.
Cunningham just made the biggest move of his time as Atlanta's GM, getting a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick from the Jaguars for Bates. That adds one more pick to the Falcons' 2027 total, putting them up to eight, including four in the top 100 and three in the first two rounds.
That's a lot of capital for a new regime, and with great draft capital comes great responsibility. The Falcons added another premium draft pick with a GM who supposedly "loves picks", but that's the thing. Making this deal was easy, especially given where this team stands before the trade deadline.
This all stems back to Cunningham's introductory press conference back in January, where he all but confirmed that he sees them as "currency". This guy worked under Howie Roseman and Ozzie Newsome, so if you think he doesn't know how to use picks to his advantage, you're quite wrong.
"I love picks, man," Cunningham said. "You use those as currency. You can use it as trading up. Trade for players, proven players. It allows you more swings at the plate. There are different ways you can use them, but that's why we value them. That's why we will value them."
The Falcons are trusting Ian Cunningham to hit on more draft picks after trading Jessie Bates
And now the Dirty Birds are going to lean into that. In Ian Cunningham's first draft at the helm, they entered with just five draft picks and left with six, and evidently, they're trying to ensure that the lack of capital doesn't become a trend, as I'm sure the goal would be to get to double-digits by tomorrow.
For as impactful as Jessie Bates is (fifth in forced fumbles), keeping him would have meant the Falcons wanted to invest in him long-term--and that's not a commitment they want to make. Instead, they want to give a new front office more swings at the plate and every opportunity to be successful, so the short-term pain could become long-term gain.
As we saw from Atlanta's 2026 Draft class, Cunningham has proven himself capable of hitting on picks and finding those diamonds in the rough. The Falcons landed LBs Kendal Daniels and Harold Perkins Jr. on Day 3 this past April, and they've both developed into long-term starters on defense.
Meanwhile, both of their Day 2 picks in Avieon Terrell and Zachariah Branch have been impactful as well, as Terrell has especially been a pleasant surprise. That's four successful draft picks, so with a larger sample size to go off, there's every reason to believe this success in the draft can be sustained.
All we know right now is that this is shaping up to be a crucial offseason in Flowery Branch, as they have an NFL-leading $143.4 million in 2027 cap space, as well as this draft pick haul--and now that Jessie Bates is gone, a successful offseason is the key to finally ending the Falcons' rebuild.
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