Falcons Looking To Trade Up Into The Top-Five?

Update:

Jason La Canfora reports that the Falcons are considering making a “massive leap” up into the top-five picks.

• La Canfora sources mention that the Lions could be a potential trade partner for the Falcons, as they’re believed to be looking to move down.
• Atlanta is believed to be high on Oregon DE/OLB Dion Jordan and Alabama CB Dee Milliner.
• Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff mentioned (via the team’s twitter account) that they expect to be active in regards to possibly trading up or down during this year’s NFL Draft.

“If you feel that you want to package picks to go up and get the player that you feel can help the team, well, then you use your draft picks as fodder to go after that player,” said Dimitroff said, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

While it’s hard to put a lot of stock in anything being said at this time of the year, there has been a reasonable amount of buzz regarding the Falcons possibly trading up in the first round. They have 11 picks at their disposal, so it’s certainly plausible that they could make another move up for an impact player.

Update:

Peter King of SI.com is “hearing” that the Falcons are looking to trade up from No. 30 overall pick in the upcoming draft.

• King adds that although he’s not sure who Atlanta could be targeting, a tight end or an athletic defensive tackle could both be options. 
• King believes they stay at No. 30 and still grab a cornerback.

The Falcons have 11 draft picks to work with, so a trade up is very conceivable.

Previous speculation mentioned that the Falcons could be looking to move for a cornerback such as Florida State’s Xavier Rhodes pr Washington’s Desmond Trufant. The Falcons currently have Asante Samuels, Robert McClain and Dominique Franks as the top-three corners on their roster, so it makes sense that they would be considering upgrades in the draft.

If the Falcons are looking for a tight end, King believes Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert would make sense. They could also use another defensive end as well.

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D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal believes Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff could be looking to trade up for cornerback in this year’s draft.

Ledbetter is basing this on an assessment of Dimitroff’s draft history and the fact that they could really use another cornerback to round out their secondary.

Atlanta released Dunta Robinson early on in the offseason and lost Brent Grimes to the Miami Dolphins during free agency. Currently, the Falcons have Asante Samuels, Robert McClain and Dominique Franks at cornerback, so it really does make sense for them to address the position in the early portion of the upcoming draft.

While it seems unlikely that Dimitroff would move all the way up to the top-ten for Alabama’s Dee Milliner, he did make a similar trade up for WR Julio Jones just a few years ago, so it’s at least a remote possibility. 

A more realistic trade could be to move up into the top 20 and possibly target someone like Florida State’s Xavier Rhodes or possibly Washington’s Desmond Trufant. It’s worth noting that there’s a decent enough chance that Rhodes could be gone by then. 

Trufant has already visited with the team, but Ledbetter sounds convinced that he won’t be available to them at No. 30 overall.

Other speculative options suggested by Ledbetter include Mississippi State’s Jonathan Banks, Houston’s D.J. Hayden and Boise State’s Jamar Taylor.