Patriots recent signing puts immense pressure on Jonnu Smith, Falcons

There is an inherent risk that every team takes on when they make a trade. We have seen it time and time again where a team trades away assets for a player who doesn't perform (ahem, Broncos). While it is on a relatively small scale, the Patriots' newest signing could make the Atlanta Falcons' trade for Jonnu Smith look bad.

Also Read: The Atlanta Falcons roster turnover over past three years is shocking.

This also puts a lot of pressure on the newest Falcons tight end to perform after an extremely disappointing two seasons in New England.

Latest Patriots signing puts pressure on the Falcons and their newest TE Jonnu Smith

The New England Patriots traded tight end Jonnu Smith to the Atlanta Falcons for a seventh-round pick back in March. Shortly after, the Pats signed Mike Gesicki to a bargain deal to pair with Hunter Henry. Here we are in May and they were not done adding to their tight end room as they brought in Anthony Firkser who played for the Falcons last season.

That isn't an ideal scenario for the Falcons because they traded away a draft pick for a player on a decent-size contract who hasn't played well over the past two years and now the Patriots could make the Falcons look foolish if Firkser puts up better stats than Jonnu Smith.

Yes, I get it, it was only a seventh-round pick but they also took on a decent-sized contract that ties up cap space that could have been used elsewhere.

Heck, if Gesicki puts up better stats it would make the Falcons look a tad foolish. The Patriots are paying Gesicki much less than the Falcons are paying Smith.

The good news is that it is extremely doubtful that Firkser outperform Jonnu Smith. Firkser was largely disappointing for the Falcons last year and is, at best, third on the depth chart in New England. As for Mike Gesicki, he is much more likely to put up good numbers. He is a talented player who has put up some good numbers in the past, however, the Falcons will likely use their tight ends more than the Patriots.

All in all, even if Jonnu Smith doesn't outperform the Patriots' tight ends, it won't be the end of the world. Who knows what would have been done with the extra money and it is unlikely that the seventh-round pick would have panned out. Nevertheless, it does add pressure on the player and organization.