Copy and paste from the last decade.
For what seems like the tenth consecutive year, the Atlanta Falcons are not projected to have any compensatory draft picks for the 2026 NFL Draft.
In fact, the Falcons last had compensatory picks in 2022, so it’s not like it never happens. It’s just fairly rare, given that the team rarely has big-ticket free agents walking and is typically as aggressive in free agency as their dollars allow. It happened this year with Drew Dalman, but given the compensatory selection formula I’m not even going to pretend to understand, Over The Cap projects that the Divine Deablo signing crosses out any possibility of an additional pick. Bummer.
This isn’t the end of the world, but it does ensure the Falcons will be operating at a significant pick deficit heading into the 2026 NFL Draft, with a first rounder and fifth rounder already surrendered for draft day trades that brought in James Pearce Jr. and Xavier Watts. The Falcons see a path to contention this year and in the future that Pearce and Watts can help them achieve, and while their track record invites skepticism, I’m fairly convinced both will be quality starters.
There are ways to recoup some of that capital, but the hyper-aggressive, go-get-your-guy ethos Terry Fontenot brings to the table means we shouldn’t expect the Falcons to do so unless Fontenot is not still here. We’ll miss those selections, but smart drafting and quality team-building can take a lot of the sting out of that, starting with Pearce and Watts excelling in 2025.