Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff wouldn’t mind moving up in the draft. But at this point, that’s kind of #asexpected.
The Falcons have moved up four times in his 10 years in charge, including the blockbuster Julio Jones deal in 2011, so it’s no surprise Dimitroff has declared himself open for business.
And with a need at defensive tackle (after Dontari Poe left in free agency for Carolina), the Falcons would have to have a specific target in mind to make a move up.
“The player that we are going to acquire has driven that most of the time,” Dimitroff said, via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Of course, we are always thinking about cost. Where our team is. Where our team’s roster is.
“What we did in ‘11 [for Jones], was not only the player, but where we were as an organization. Even last year, moving up for Takk [McKinley], we had a lot of discussions about where we were with our pass rush.”
Dimitroff said there were six to eight defensive tackles with round one or two grades this year, and if they wanted a player such as Vita Vea or Da’Ron Payne, they’d likely have to move up from 26th.
“Of course, we have to look at the compensation and be realistic about it,” Dimitroff said. “We pretty well know when we are looking to move up five, six, eight, 10 or 21 [spots], what it is going to cost us. We get our heads around that a lot sooner than on draft day.”
But that’s what he’s been doing since he got there, so it makes sense to be prepared to do it again.