The Atlanta Falcons hold just five draft picks in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft -- one in rounds one, two, and four and two in round seven.
The concern isn't so much the number of picks, it is the lack of top-100 picks with two (Nos. 15 & 46). That is where you find impact players, so general manager Terry Fontenot must wheel and deal to land one more top-100 pick, at least.
The reason for the lack of picks is due to a variety of moves and the well-documented tampering punishment from a year ago. Let's dive into everything.
Why the Falcons have just five picks in the 2025 NFL Draft
The Falcons hold their own first and second-round picks. Their near-playoff berth landed them the 15th and 46th picks in the upcoming draft. From there, things get messy.
Right before the start of the 2024 season, the Falcons traded their third-round pick to the New England Patriots for OLB Matt Judon. It was a trade that has aged like milk and now, barring a re-sign, the Dirty Birds traded a premium pick for 5.5 sacks.
The team holds their original fourth-round pick but the same cannot be said about the subsequent round. They lost their fifth-rounder for contacting free agents Kirk Cousins, Darnell Mooney, and Charlie Woerner before last year's legal tampering period. The team was also fined $250k and GM Terry Fontenot was fined $50k.
Next, the Falcons traded their sixth-round pick to the Rams for WR Van Jefferson and a seventh-round pick before the 2023 trade deadline.
The final two pieces involve the conditional seventh-round trades of DT Kentavius Street and QB Taylor Heinicke.
Street's deal was dependent on him playing six games for the Falcons in 2023. He was placed on injured reserve after five games which meant the Falcons owed the Eagles a seventh-round pick in the 2025 draft. If he had played another game, the Falcons would've surrendered a sixth-rounder in the 2024 draft (used on WR Casey Washington) and landed a seventh-rounder in this year's draft.
The last piece of the puzzle is the trade that sent Taylor Heinicke to the Chargers right before the start of last season. Atlanta landed a conditional seventh-round pick which could've turned into a sixth-rounder if the quarterback had seen more action.
It is a complex aggregate so here is a simple recap to wrap up:
Falcons draft picks:
- Round 1
- Round 2
- Round 4
- Round 7 (via Rams, Van Jefferson trade)
- Round 7 (via Chargers, Taylor Heinicke trade)
Falcons subtracted draft picks
- Round 3 (Patriots, Matt Judon trade)
- Round 5 (Tampering punishment)
- Round 6 (Rams, Van Jefferson trade)
- Round 7 (Eagles, Kentavius Street trade)