The Falcoholic
One fun wrinkle in this lost season for the Atlanta Falcons is that these late-season wins technically didn’t hurt their first-round draft position. That’s because Atlanta has no first-round pick in 2026.
Atlanta drafted Georgia EDGE Jalon Walker with the 15th overall pick, then swapped with the Rams to move back up into the first round to take linebacker James Pearce Jr. out of the University of Tennessee. The Rams received the Falcons 2026 first-round pick, plus Atlanta’s 2025 second-round pick and a 2025 seventh-round pick. The Falcons received the Rams’ 26th overall pick in 2025, which they used to select Pearce, and the 101st overall pick from Los Angeles.
Initially it looked like the Rams won this trade, but Pearce has been outstanding in his rookie season. He has 26 total tackles, set the Falcons’ rookie record with 10.5 sacks, and added a forced fumble and fumble recovery, and five pass breakups. And now that the regular season is in the rearview, we know that the Falcons’ 13th overall pick in the 2026 draft will finalize this trade with the Rams.
