The Atlanta Falcons turned down an easy trade with the Chicago Bears

An important development occurred just before the Atlanta Falcons made their first-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles demonstrated his strategic prowess by presenting a remarkably generous offer to Falcons management, paving the way for a potential game-changer.

“The Bears were willing to trade a future 4th to the Falcons to go 9-8 to secure Rome Odunze,” Ari Meirov wrote on X about the footage the Bears posted on draft night. “Looks like Atlanta wasn’t interested. The Bears always had Odunze. But this seems notable after Atlanta lost a future No. 5 this week to tampering.”

This is a fairly objective look at what happened on draft night. The Bears were willing to trade up because they likely thought the Falcons would take the best defensive player on the board in Odunze. They wanted to entice the Falcons to take the point guard they coveted.

Turns out the Bears didn’t need to worry about the Falcons grabbing their man. After taking Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick. There was no chance the Bears would turn around and take Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 if they traded places with the Falcons.

Considering no defensive player was taken among the first seven picks, the Poles made a wisely calculated move to select their target, WR Romeo Odunze. However, Atlanta Falcons manager Terry Fontenot refused to receive a future 4th round selection and stunned the world by selecting quarterback Michael Penix Jr., despite signing veteran Kirk Cousins ​​for a massive contract in free agency in April.

One can’t help but wonder why the Falcons chose not to go back.

After careful consideration, there aren’t many valid reasons why Atlanta wouldn’t trade up a spot and essentially take a free 4th rounder. First, they may have thought the Bears would hand the pick to another team in need of a quarterback – like the Las Vegas Raiders, who were heavily linked to the Washington team before the draft.

However, Fontenot could have mitigated these risks by seeking assurances from Poles that the Bears would not trade their picks. Fontenot also could have waited long enough to make the deal that the Bears didn’t have time to flip No. 8 before the Falcons were on the clock at No. 9.

Second, it was never in Terry Fontenot’s nature to go back in the first round of the draft. He never did it with the Falcons, and even as assistant general manager of the New Orleans Saints for one year in 2020 – the organization didn’t trade in the first round either.

While many still question the Falcons’ selection, this should only prolong those conversations. What exactly did the Falcons have to lose by moving from No. 8 to No. 9?