FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- There are a few guarantees in April in Georgia. Taxes, pollen and Thomas Dimitroff making a trade during the NFL Draft.
The Atlanta Falcons general manager is notorious for swapping picks during the draft whether it's to move up in the first round, like he did in 2017 to get defensive end Takk McKinley, or more notoriously in 2011 when he sent five picks to the Cleveland Browns to move up from No. 26 to No. 6 to select Julio Jones.
Coincidentally, that's exactly where the Falcons are picking on Thursday when the first round of the NFL Draft commences. But don't expect the Falcons to move all the way up to six. There are enough teams desperate enough to draft a quarterback that the Falcons are confident they'll get their guy late in the first round.
"We’ll always consider moving up. But also the idea of moving back as well because we feel like there are a number of really good players at 26 and beyond," Dimitroff said at the team's pre-draft press conference last week. "I think this first-round projection of the first-round quarterbacks will give us a lot more indication of what’s going to go between basically 10 and 26. It doesn’t really matter whether they all go in the first 10 or wherever or they go after that, as long as they’re going before 26, that provides us more opportunity."
The Falcons' most glaring need appears to be defensive tackle with the recent departures of Adrian Clayborn and Dontari Poe. But the Falcons have plenty of positions they are focusing on outside of the defensive line. They need another offensive guard to develop and plug in. With Taylor Gabriel gone, an impact slot receiver is needed with Justin Hardy, Reggie Davis or Marvin Hall yet to prove themselves as regular starters.
Dimitroff said the team is looking at roughly six to eight positions for this year's draft, and any one of them could be their first pick.
"We talk about the idea of this being a really interesting year because there are a number of players that we think could affect us in a very positive way at 26," Dimitroff said. "So in lieu of trading away players, if we feel we’re going to get someone there or a number of different players there and opportunities, we may not be as apt to, but we’ll always be looking."
He's being a bit more passive about the idea than he was last year at this time when he told USA TODAY Sports his approach to draft trades:
“I’m not a big believer of sitting on your hands and waiting,” Dimitroff told USA TODAY Sports at the time. “You have to make things happen and be aggressive about going after what you need.”
If it does begin to look like the Falcons' 'guy' isn't going to be available when they're on the clock, there's always an option to trade a player in addition to picks to move up.
Tevin Coleman is a possibility considering he's unlikely to be a running back the players keep around after Devonta Freeman's $41.25 million contract extension in 2017, and the Falcons likely wouldn't want to see a player of his value just walk away in free agency when becoming a free agent next offseason.
But the Falcons, who should be in a win-now mentality just two years removed from the Super Bowl appearance, may not be willing to part ways with the running back. Dimitroff already crushed trade rumors surrounding Coleman in February.
Dimitroff said the team has too much respect for its players to go into a draft with the mentality of trading them away, especially the current roster.
"We think that we are in a really good place with who we have right now. Of course, you have to be open-minded enough to listen to someone, but I mean it’s rare that we would do that," he said.
So will Dimitroff keep his streak going? It's possible, especially in the later rounds. But in the first round, the Falcons may sit back and find their guy at No. 26.
