Atlanta Falcons rumors: Attempting to trade up to No. 2 shows aggressive approach

With the 2020 NFL Draft here, the Atlanta Falcons could make a deal with the Washington Redskins to trade up to the No. 2 pick in the first round.

The 2020 NFL Draft is finally here, and on the opening night of the annual draft on April 23-25, the Atlanta Falcons are in the middle of multiple rumors throughout the league. This draft will undoubtedly be an important one for Atlanta and one where the Falcons need to fill multiple holes throughout the depth chart and most notably the defense.

While trying to avoid missing the postseason for a third straight season in 2020 this year, Atlanta has high hopes for this draft to shore up some spots on its roster to be able to get back to being a top team in the NFL.

With the importance of the 2020 NFL Draft present for the Falcons, that has led to multiple rumors surrounding the team trying to move up to grab a top-talent prospect in Thursday night’s opening round of the draft.

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Atlanta, which currently holds six picks in the upcoming draft (one pick in the first, second, third and seventh rounds, with two in the fourth round), is slated to select at No. 16 overall and has been tied to multiple players on the defensive side of the ball.

Earlier this week, ESPN’s Vaughn McClure reported the Falcons have had conversations with multiple top prospects in the draft and they could be preparing to package a trade together to move up Thursday’s opening round. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport initially brought those reports forward of the team trying to move up in the first round roughly a week ago.

But the rumors haven’t stopped there.

On the eve of the first round of the draft, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reported that Atlanta attempted to not only move up in the first round, but move up to one of the top three picks. Glazer reported on Twitter the Falcons have been aggressive leading into the draft and were apparently “trying to get all the way to #2 for Chase Young.”

Would it actually be a possibility for Atlanta to move up to as high as the No. 2 overall pick in the draft and would they have enough assets to make that deal possible with the Washington Redskins, who currently hold that second pick?

Atlanta has a strong history of moving up in the draft and making trades during the draft, including trading a few picks in 2019 to move up into the latter half of the first round and packaging five picks together to trade up to select star wide receiver Julio Jones sixth overall in 2011.

If the Falcons view Young as a player that could take their defense to the next level and they are a player like Young away from taking their defense to the next level, then they should do all they can to trade for that No. 2 pick.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t look possible, as Glazer noted later on Wednesday.

To this point, it appears that Washington hasn’t been willing to trade the No. 2 pick to anyone and it has been rumored to going with Young second overall in Thursday’s first round of the draft.

But things could change once the draft inches closer and officially begins, and we could see the Falcons try to put something together to go grab Young at No. 2. If nothing else, it’s clear the team is ready to be as aggressive as you can imagine to get a Day 1 instant-impact player on defense.