Atlanta Falcons Bet Big on James Pearce Jr. — and Lost

The Atlanta Falcons should be ashamed of themselves.

Over the weekend, Falcons first-round pick James Pearce Jr. was arrested after an alleged dispute with a WNBA player. While he maintains his innocence, the No. 26 overall draft pick is facing five felony charges.

Pearce’s football future is understandably up in the air.

As a result, it’s fair to question why the Falcons did this to themselves in the first place.

While Pearce is innocent until proven guilty, the pass rusher out of Tennessee had character flaws before the NFL Draft. It’s what caused him to slide into the late first round despite being one of the most disruptive players in his class.

But the Falcons decided to trade their 2026 first-round choice to move back in so they could select Pearce. Pairing Pearce with fellow first-round pick Jalon Walker out of Georgia gave the Falcons a revamped defense for new head coach Raheem Morris.

The Falcons convinced themselves they could take advantage of a weak NFC South with two capable quarterbacks in Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins, along with a newly hired defensive-minded coach and two premier pass rushers.

They were hilariously wrong in their calculations.

Instead, the Falcons finished in third place. Penix suffered yet another injury, and Cousins was so ineffective that the team is planning on releasing him. The organization fired Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot following the disappointing eight-win season.

The Los Angeles Rams now own Atlanta’s first-round draft pick, No. 13 overall. Certainly, the Falcons would like to have that selection back — as the player they traded for might be out of the league entirely by the time April’s draft arrives.

New head coach Kevin Stefanski is no stranger to big messes. He endured three consecutive seasons without a first-round pick during his time with the Cleveland Browns after the infamous Deshaun Watson trade.

Watson played just 19 total games, and the Browns roster was so depleted that Stefanski was fired after winning only eight games over the previous two seasons.

For Stefanski’s sake, hopefully history does not repeat itself. He’s starting his tenure behind the eight ball, as the team’s first-round selection from last season will be unavailable.

In April’s draft, the Falcons have only five total selections, with just two inside the top 100.

Fontenot put Matt Ryan and Stefanski in a very difficult position. Pearce’s actions off the field have only made the situation worse.