The Falcons’ shocking first round of the 2024 NFL draft could have been even more shocking.
Not only did Atlanta do the completely unexpected and draft quarterback Michael Penix with the eighth overall pick, but the Falcons also tried to make a trade to get another Top 10 pick.
In a video from inside their draft room that the Jets posted online, General Manager Joe Douglas is seen on the phone and then telling others in the draft room that the Falcons were going to make their own pick, No. 8 overall, and that the Falcons were also interested in trading for the Jets’ first-round pick, No. 10 overall.
“They are definitely picking,” Douglas said of the Falcons. “And they want to come back up. So they want 8 and 10.”
Ultimately the Jets did trade the No. 10 pick, but they only moved down one spot to No. 11, switching spots with the Vikings. The people in the Jets’ draft room referred to that trade as “free money” because the Jets got additional picks to move down one spot and still got to draft the player they would have taken at No. 10, offensive tackle Olu Fashanu.
“Minnesota still wants to come up to 10. We can get something for nothing,” Douglas said in the Jets’ draft room before finalizing the trade with the Vikings.
The Vikings got their man in J.J. McCarthy. It’s unclear whom the Falcons wanted to draft at No. 10 or how big an offer they made the Jets to get the pick. It’s probably safe to say Atlanta wasn’t going to draft a quarterback.