During the first round of this year's NFL Draft, the Atlanta Falcons traded their 2026 first-round pick, along with the 46th and 202nd overall selections in 2025, to the St. Louis Rams in exchange for the 26th and 101st overall selections in 2025. Atlanta used the 26th pick to draft edge rusher James Pearce Jr.
Pearce terrorized quarterbacks during his time at Tennessee, but the Falcons drew heavy criticism for the trade. ESPN's Seth Walder, for example, gave the Falcons an 'F' when grading the deal:
"I'm sorry, what? Atlanta dealt a future first-rounder to move up from No. 46 to No. 26? For James Pearce Jr.? There's no way to spin it: This is a poor team-building choice, plain and simple.
It's not that the Falcons couldn't use a second pass rusher (they drafted Jalon Walker at pick No. 15). It's that they surrendered what could end up being a ton of draft capital."
Count Howie Roseman among those who think the Rams got the better end of the deal:
Howie Roseman’s reaction to the Falcons trading their 2026 first-round pick is pretty hilarious.
(🎥: @Eagles) pic.twitter.com/rpn7oaFUJc
If Roseman thinks it was a lopsided trade, it was probably a lopsided trade.
But not everyone agreed that the Falcons got robbed. "I'm sure the way they are rationalizing it is, 'We gave up a first next year to get a first this year, and we basically did that for moving back from the second to the third,'" an unnamed NFL executive told The Athletic's Mike Sando ($). "If you look at that objectively, it's not as bad as it sounds. People overlook getting the third back from the Rams as part of the deal."
