With the trade deadline less than 24 hours away and the Falcons hoping to make a deep playoff run, the time before 4 pm on Tuesday could have a substantial impact on the Falcons season.

Azeez Ojulari

Capital

To review, the Falcons have the following draft picks as of November 4th: 2025 1 2025 2 2025 4 2025 5 2025 7 (from LAR)

2026 1 2026 2 2026 3 2026 4 2026 5 2026 6 or 7 (dependent on Taylor Heinicke playing time)

Personally, I think the Falcons most pressing need is defensive tackle, as their defensive line is not very dominant at the moment. Especially with their fast linebackers, the Falcons are dependent on their edge players and tackles to generate pressure. From TeamRanks, it can be seen that the Falcons have a bottom tier rush defense, are last in the league in sack rate and opponent completion percentage.

Targets

Raekwon Davis

The Colts are on the edge of a wild card spot in the AFC, but trading for Davis could be a high upside move for the Falcons. Davis is a mountain of a man, and at 6’7” he would bring a very big presence to the Falcons. He still has 1.5 years left on his deal, but a 2025 cap hit of $8.9 million does not match the 9 combined tackles Davis has accounted for as a Colt so far. Depending on the money the Colts take on, a 2025 or 2026 5th seems like a fair price to bring a different type of player to the Falcons defensive line. The goal for Davis would be to reach his production as a rookie, where he accounted for 40 total tackles, and his presence could help unlock Matt Judon.

Dalvin Tomlinson

Tomlinson has been a starter for the Browns, as part of a productive pass rush along with Myles Garrett. Tomlinson’s production hasn’t been as great as a Brown, but he has played high snap counts in his 2 years as a Brown. With the Browns looking to rebuild, the Falcons could try and get a relatively reliable defensive tackle who is 0.5 sacks away from his season record after only 9 games. A 2025 5th rounder may be enough to get Tomlinson.

Sebastian Joseph-Day

Joseph-Day has some similarity with Raheem Morris, when they were together to win a Super Bowl on the Rams. With the Titans appearing to sell, Joseph-Day may be cheap to acquire as an impending free agent, and could provide some familiarity with the defensive scheme. I would trade a 2025 5th for Joseph-Day and a 2025 6th.

Jeffrey Simmons

Simmons would obviously be much harder to acquire, but as the Titans appear to be headed towards a rebuild, Simmons could be a big impact player who would be able to help out the Falcons for multiple years. He has been playing as a defensive end this season, but would be able to go back to his original position of defensive tackle as a Falcon. The Falcons would hope that Simmons would be a focal point of their defense for years to come. It would take a haul to acquire Simmons, but a 2025 1st, 2026 2nd, and 2026 5th could be enough to convince the Titans to trade away one of their best players. This draft capital would be very helpful as the Titans rebuild their roster and pursue a franchise quarterback.

Azeez Ojulari

One of the hottest names at the deadline, it makes sense for the Giants to trade him. He has been a productive edge rusher, but with Kayvon, Burns, and Dexter Lawrence, they would most likely not re-sign him in free agency. While the Falcons have already spent significant draft capital trading for an edge rusher this season(Matt Judon), Ojulari could be the pass rusher of the future for Atlanta if they re-sign him. I would trade a 2025 4th, and a conditional 2026 5th which could turn into a 4th if the Falcons re-sign Ojulari for a 2 year or more extension. One concern about Ojulari may be that Ojulari has gotten his production on a very talented defensive line. This may be true in 2024, but Ojulari’s rookie 8 sack season came without Thibodeaux and Burns on the roster, and Lawrence only had 2.5 sacks that year.

Conclusion

While this list of hypothetical players only featured defensive linemen, the Falcons defensive line is clearly the weakest point on the roster. Increased pressure on pass plays would help out the secondary and linebackers in coverage, and a more dominant line would assist in run stopping. Football is said to be won in the trenches, and if the Falcons want to compete with the best teams, like the Chiefs and Lions, they need to have a strong defensive line.