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We've covered this recently, but the Falcons under Thomas Dimitroff have traded up seven times and down once in the NFL Draft. It's almost an inevitability that the Falcons will trade up somewhere in the 2014 NFL Draft, even if it's into the sixth round.
It helps to have connections when you have a habit of making moves on draft day, and Dimitroff now has two great ones. From the AJC interview with Dimitroff last week:
Q: Could it help with St. Louis (second) and Jacksonville (third) being ahead of you in the draft?
A: We have already talked about the fact that we have two, (three) and six with Atlanta Falcons ties. … This league is about having the right allies when you are trying to broker trades.
You may be tempted to dismiss this by noting that Dimitroff has a river of misleading statements every offseason, but this one is worth a moment of reflection. He had dinner with Les Snead and Dave Caldwell during the Senior Bowl, and he references a conversation here. That tells me the Falcons have had at least casual talks about trading up already.
Think about how quickly you have to make trades on draft day. If the Falcons can lay the groundwork with the Rams and Jaguars, they'll have the ability to push up and grab a player they love. It may not come to that, but it's great to have that relationship and that avenue available.
In case you're wondering, I would rank the two likeliest trades up as from #6 to #2 for Jadeveon Clowney, and failing that, from #37 to the bottom of the first round in pursuit of a lineman. We shall see.
Heck, if they do trade up for Clowney, at least he'd like to be in Atlanta.
