Falcons 2026 NFL Draft takeaways: New GM Ian Cunningham sets his foundation in Atlanta

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The Falcons added six new players after turning their original five picks into six by trading pick No. 122 to the Raiders in exchange for Nos. 134 and 208. “I felt like it worked out well,” Cunningham said. “We had some other calls going on, and at the end of the day we decided on Vegas.” Atlanta, which is coming off its eighth straight losing season, add four defensive players — cornerback Avieon Terrell in the second round, linebacker Kendal Daniels in the fourth round, defensive tackle Anterio Thompson and LSU linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. in the sixth round — and two offensive players — wide receiver Zachariah Branch in the third round and offensive linemen Ethan Onianwa in the seventh round. Lost in the feel-good story of Atlanta putting cornerback Avieon Terrell in the same defensive backfield as his brother A.J. is the fact that the Falcons may have gotten a steal regardless of Avieon’s family tree. He was rated the fourth-best cornerback and 27th-best prospect at any position by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, but Atlanta got him with the 48th pick. “It’s crazy, but I’m glad it happened,” Terrell said Saturday as he toured the team’s facility. “They made a mistake letting me and my brother team up, they weren’t supposed to let that happen.” Terrell’s draft stock was hurt when he ran a 4.64 40-yard dash at Clemson’s pro day while nursing a hamstring injury, but he said Saturday his leg is healthy, and he’ll be able to go full speed throughout the offseason program. “More fuel to the fire,” he said. Linebacker Harold Perkins Jr., selected at pick No. 216 in the sixth round, was surprised himself. “Atlanta wasn’t one of the teams I was talking to a lot,” the LSU alum said. The 6-1, 223-pounder burst onto the scene with 7.5 sacks for the Tigers as a 17-year-old freshman in 2022, but his career didn’t go as planned from there. After 5.5 sacks as a sophomore, he suffered an ACL tear in his junior year before bouncing back to have four sacks and three interceptions in his final season. “I feel like I’m getting my confidence back in my knee,” he said. “I feel like (my college career) went how it was supposed to go. Everybody wants the perfect Cinderella story, but it isn’t always going to be like that.” Perkins’ size and tailing collegiate production is the reason he was still around in the sixth round for Atlanta. “There aren’t 200 people in this draft better than me. I know that for a fact,” he said. “My end goal wasn’t just to get to the league. My end goal is to have a gold jacket. This is just part of my story.” The bad news for Atlanta fans: The New Orleans native grew up a Saints fan. “Guess what though? I ain’t a Saints fan no more,” he said. Did the Falcons need to take Kendal Daniels that high? Atlanta drafted the Oklahoma linebacker with the 134th pick, which is 74 spots higher than he appeared on Brugler’s final Big Board. The answer is “maybe” if they really wanted him, considering the Falcons’ next pick didn’t come until No. 208, but if he doesn’t work out, this will be remembered as a reach. Regardless of how Daniels does on the field, it looks like he’ll be a hit with the team’s media for as long as he’s around. The 6-5, 242-pounder was ecstatic after his selection. “You can’t prepare for something like this, I don’t care how many times you’ve watched it,” he said. “Being in this position is a surreal moment. I can’t put into words how excited I am to go down there and work with those guys.” Daniels was a safety his first three years of college but grew into a linebacker after he gave up his basketball hobby, he said. “I mean, I was a hooper for sure, but that was 60 pounds ago,” he said. Daniels played four years at Oklahoma State before transferring to rival Oklahoma for his final season. It was a move he never dreamed he’d make. “My mom kept telling me to answer their calls, and I never would,” he said. “Oh, I hated them. A year and a half ago, if you had told me I’d be getting drafted out of Oklahoma I’d have told you to get out of my face. It was bad blood. That’s why I know God is real. He brought me to this position.” There’s still room for another wide receiver and tight end in Atlanta, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Falcons address those spots as they turn their attention to the pool of undrafted free agents. Even after adding Branch to the wide receiver room, Atlanta doesn’t have an obvious fifth wide receiver, much less a sixth option. At tight end, the Falcons have Kyle Pitts, Austin Hooper, Charlie Woerner and Joshua Simon. Nothing that happened over the weekend changed the prospects for the Falcons’ first season under Cunningham, head coach Kevin Stefanski and president of football Matt Ryan. This is not exactly a Year Zero for the new regime, but Atlanta was conservative in free agency and did not have a first-round pick this weekend. The Falcons could snap their streak of eight straight losing seasons and even earn a playoff spot in an NFC South without a prohibitive favorite, but this offseason was mostly about re-establishing a foundation. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms