Ian Cunningham has been a busy man in his first offseason as the general manager of the Atlanta Falcons. In less than six months on the job, he already made two player trades, and just struck a third as the Falcons agreed to terms on a trade to acquire OT Wanya Morris from the Kansas City Chiefs.
Atlanta is reportedly sending a 2027 sixth-round pick to Kansas City in exchange for Morris and a 2027 seventh-rounder. If you look at this trade from the surface, the 25-year-old is just another camp body who can play a role in the right tackle competition, but there's a whole lot more to this deal.
Between Storm Norton, Morris' former Chiefs teammate Jawaan Taylor, Michael Jerrell, and even the young duo of Jack Nelson and Ethan Onianwa, the RT room is in flux. Cunningham saw the opportunity to bring in some extra depth, but did so in a way that's in line with his GM philosophy.
The Wanya Morris trade involved another pick swap for the Falcons
The first-year GM comes from the Howie Roseman executive tree, He knows how and when to strike. And his first offseason in Atlanta has exposed an interesting trend, and one that has continued with the Morris trade: the Falcons aren't fans of the common idea of draft capital in exchange for players.
Instead, they'd rather get another player in return or make deals for pick swaps. All three of Cunningham's player trades made this offseason have fit this ideal of not wanting to lose any marquee draft picks, so the Dirty Birds instead agree to deals where the capital lost is a net neutral.
A seventh and Morris for a sixth is a prime example of this, but it's by far the least prevalent. When Atlanta traded for Sydney Brown in March, they did a pick swap with the Eagles where all they had to do was move back eight picks in Round 4 and 18 spots in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Falcons traded their own 2027 seventh-rounder to Seattle in exchange for Michael Jerrell, and Cunningham saw the opportunity to replenish the draft capital Terry Fonenot gave up. And he also sent Ruke Orhorhoro to the Jaguars straight up for Maason Smith. No picks.
It's a more cautious approach from the new regime, but they shouldn't want to stick with the Oprah-like "You get a draft pick" approach they previously had. Cunningham entered his first draft as the Falcons' GM with just five picks, and clearly that's not something he ever wants to go through again.
Ian Cunningham has preached the value of draft capital since his opening presser, and through player-for-player trades or pick swaps like for Wanya Morris, the Atlanta Falcons are putting themselves in a position to add potential impact players without paying the price.
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