The Atlanta Falcons have pulled off their first trade of the Ian Cunningham era, and it’s aimed at adding some depth and possible upside to their secondary.
Per ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Atlanta pulled off a pick swap with the Philadelphia Eagles to get safety Sydney Brown, who will celebrate his 26th birthday tomorrow as a Falcon. Atlanta moved from pick 114 in the fourth round to pick 122 and from pick 197 in the sixth round to pick 215 to land Brown.
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The former third round pick out of Illinois had a promising rookie campaign, managing a 99 yard interception return and delivering some encouraging moments in coverage at both the nickel and safety despite allowing 21 of 24 balls thrown his way to be caught. An Achilles injury in 2023 clearly impacted him in 2024, and his 2025 season was, per Bleeding Green Nation, something of a disaster. While nobody has doubted his physical ability since the moment he was drafted—Brown is an extremely aggressive player with the speed to make that work—BGN notes that defensive coordinator Vic Fangio didn’t seem to trust him by late in the season, something they attribute to mental mistakes that also dogged him on special teams. He committed six penalties in that phase a year ago, which is pretty gruesome.
In Atlanta, Brown is getting a fresh start in the final year of his very affordable rookie deal, with a chance to show a new team that he can be an asset. The Falcons would not have given up anything of value—and while it’s a low price to pay, a pick swap is not nothing—if they didn’t believe Brown can offer more than he’s shown the past couple of seasons in Philadelphia. Jeff Ulbrich will be looking to take a physically gifted defensive back who is still quite young and find a workable role for him, which could come as a reserve at safety or competition at the nickel, where he played heavily in his rookie season. To unlock that potential to even be a high end reserve for Atlanta, something they could certainly use, he’ll need to cut down on missed tackles, special teams penalties, and mental mistakes. I’m certainly hopeful he both can and will, but given the track record and price, this is an upside gamble for the Falcons and far from a sure thing.
If Brown can deliver value as a reserve safety and nickel, the Falcons will happily hand him a new deal in 2027 when they have more cap space to work with and multiple defensive backs set to hit free agency. If not, he’ll cost them nothing beyond this year either draft-wise or cap-wise.
Give Brown a warm welcome, and we’ll likely hear from Ulbrich in the not-too-distant future regarding the team’s vision for him in Atlanta.
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