REPORT: Atlanta Falcons GM Terry Fontenot Under Fire After Latest NFL Trade Proposal Leaked

The Atlanta Falcons were one of 32 teams trying to improve in this year’s NFL Draft. Atlanta stunned everyone by drafting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth overall pick. What if I told you that wasn’t the only surprising thing about this choice? Well, it turns out that Atlanta Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot turned down a great trade offer for this pick.

Atlanta Falcons turned down trade offer from Chicago Bears

According to Ari Meirov of the 33rd Team, the Atlanta Falcons received a call from the Chicago Bears regarding the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Important context for this is that the Bears currently held the first overall pick and the ninth overall pick.

Meirov went on to say that the Bears were interested in trading their ninth pick for the Falcons’ eighth pick. Chicago was also willing to offer a future fourth-round pick as part of this potential trade. However, Atlanta would have always denied this draft commercial proposal.

Questionable plans from general manager Terry Fontenot

At first glance, it doesn’t make much sense why Fontenot would turn down this trade request. In this scenario, the Falcons would only move down one spot in the draft. Additionally, the Bears drafted quarterback Caleb Williams with the first overall pick.

Presumably Chicago would not have drafted the Falcons’ target by moving in front of them. That’s because the Falcons ended up drafting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. That in itself was a controversial move considering Atlanta acquired veteran QB Kirk Cousins ​​earlier in the offseason.

Chicago ended up drafting WR Rome Odunze with the ninth overall pick. If this report is accurate, the team was likely worried about Odunze still being available when the Bears resumed.

Although things eventually worked out for the Bears, the move sparked more criticism of Fontenot. That’s especially the case when the Falcons lost a fifth-round pick about six weeks later due to a violation of the NFL’s anti-tampering policy in acquiring Cousins.

Atlanta Falcons fans react

Falcons fans also seem highly critical of Fontenot after discovering this information. Here are some of the most notable comments:

“Did they think Chicago was going to pick another QB? Lol”

“It seems really stupid of the Falcons NOT to do this. If your real intention was to draft Penix all along, the Bears already drafted Caleb Williams. Bone heads »

“So they skipped a 4th for no reason”

“Why wouldn’t Atlanta do that?” Knowing well that the Bears were not trading for a QB…”

“The Falcons could have gotten a pick for free and instead managed to lose a pick due to ‘tampering.’ Perfect encapsulation of the Falcons as a franchise.

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