ESPN Proposes Interesting Trade for the Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons have been very active this offseason in adding new bodies to their roster. A flurry of one-year deals in free agency, six draft picks, and a dozen more undrafted free agents have seen the roster swell. 

Teams are largely finished with the bulk of their offseason moves, but general manager Ian Cunningham referred to this post-draft window as the “second wave” of free agency. Veteran additions can still be made here and there through the end of training camp in August. To this point, no serious moves have happened, but what about a trade? 

ESPN NFL analysts Jeremy Fowler, Dan Graziano, Ben Solak, Seth Walder, Courtney Cronin, Alaina Getzenberg, Stephen Holder, and Jordan Raanan teamed up to see what sort of deals could be on the horizon. For the Falcons, it is a wide receiver from the Buffalo Bills. 

Could the Falcons make a trade?

• Bills get: 2027 fourth-round pick 
• Falcons get: Keon Coleman, 2028 sixth-round pick 

Here's what ESPN had to say about the deal:

“Why this deal makes sense: The Falcons are a logical fit because of where they are as a team -- starting over at head coach and GM, with long-term uncertainty at quarterback. They can afford to take a shot on Coleman's upside, and he would immediately add value to a receivers room that doesn't feature much after Drake London (Olamide Zaccheaus, Jahan Dotson and third-round pick Zachariah Branch). And if Coleman breaks out in Year 3, the Falcons would have him under contract for 2027, too.” 

The Falcons have completely flipped their wide receiver room this offseason. London is the only major contributor to return from last season’s unit, with Casey Washington, Chris Blair, and Dylan Drummond sitting on the roster bubble this summer. They added a day-two pick in Branch and a pair of free agents in Zaccheaus and Dotson. 

We speculated that the Falcons could continue to add to this room this offseason, but that player would most likely come from free agency rather than via trade. 

Coleman, who has yet to find his groove in the NFL, would also not offer the Falcons the skill set they are really looking for. He had 38 catches for 404 yards last season, but would not have a serious contributing role with this offense. He is a big-bodied player, but Atlanta has that (and more) with London and Pitts. He also lacks the traits of a Dotson to stretch the field vertically. 

For a seventh-round pick, this could be worth exploring, but there is little upside for a player who would get buried on this depth chart. 

His contract (for a post-June 1 trade) would become tradeable for the Bills, creating $1.7 million in cap space this season and $2.2 million in space in 2027. They have also denied being in the market to trade their young receiver. 

All told, this is not a deal that would make much sense for the Falcons.