NFL Draft Rumors: Atlanta Falcons unlikely to trade up for Jadeveon Clowney
By Josh Hill
The NFL Draft is next month and another player besides Johnny Manziel who will begin to dominate media coverage is South Carolina defensive end and physical freak of nature Jadeveon Clowney. He clocked in ridiculous numbers at the combine this year and he’s now poised to be nothing less than the No. 3 pick in the draft.
What this means is teams that want him will have to trade up for him and one of those teams are the Atalanta Falcons, but according to D. Orlando Ledbetter from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a trade for Clowney is not likely to happen.
"Under this scenario, the Falcons must trade up to No. 2 to get Clowney. But the Falcons have too many holes to fill – tackle, center, pass rusher, tight end and free safety — and likely can’t afford to mortgage the future to get Clowney. Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff brushed off Clowney’s trade request."
It’s still possible that the Falcons bet the farm on a prospect like Clowney and fill their other needs with smaller time players with the hopes that their bigger players can carry the load. But while it seemed like the Falcons were a threat to trade up, it now appears they’ll either be staying put or trading down in May.