D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution writes that the Falcons will consider trading up to for Florida DE Dante Fowler Jr. in this year’s draft.
- Albert Breer confirms that the Falcons could trade up for an impact defensive player.
Ledbetter points out that new Falcons HC Dan Quinn recruited Fowler to Florida, where he coached the defensive end for two seasons.
Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff has made a trade in all seven of the drafts he has presided over, and even confirmed that there has been a lot of trade in recent days.
“There is a lot of discussions already about moving both ways with a lot of our peers in the league,” Dimitroff said. “A lot of it has to do with what goes down with the top three picks. That’s going to set the tone for how much movement there is into the top 10 and even in the top five.”
The Raiders are known to be open for business at No. 4 overall if Fowler is still on the board at that point in the draft.
There’s no question that the Falcons could really use a solid pass rusher to build their front-seven around in the coming years. However, Atlanta is not one player away from being a top tier team, so giving up additional draft picks that could be used to add depth at other positions could prove costly in the long run.
Then again, the asking price could be reasonable depending on whether Fowler gets past the Jaguars at No. 3 overall.
During his three years at Florida, Fowler recorded 140 tackles, 14.5 sacks, five forced fumbles and two pass defenses.
We have the Falcons taking Kentucky DE Bud Dupree in our recently updated two-round NFL Mock Draft.
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