FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — For the second straight year, the Atlanta Falcons were one of the most talked about teams coming out of Day 1 of the NFL draft.

This time, however, the reaction wasn't so much about who they selected as much as it was how they selected him.

The Falcons traded their first-round pick in 2026 as well as their second-round pick (No. 46 overall) and a seventh-round pick (No. 242) in this year's draft to move up to pick No. 26 and select edge rusher James Pearce Jr. out of the University of Tennessee. From Atlanta's perspective, and counter to the public reaction, the picks given up were worth the player attained.

"You know with trades it always gets to that point where you have to weigh out what you're actually doing and what you're doing it for," Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said. "We look at the trade charts and all that stuff, but at some point, you have to look at who's the player and what's going to be. What are we really getting, and is it worth it? That's what you really have to do at some point. When you have that kind of conviction and belief in the player, then that's when you're willing to do it — and we do."

Atlanta's belief in Pearce is understandable. After all, he was largely considered one of the top prospects in this class heading into his senior season, and no player in the SEC had more pressures than Pearce's 107 over the last two seasons.

For a team that has the fewest sacks in the NFL since 2018, adding a player who generated 17.5 sacks in two years is a big positive. There's reason to believe Pearce can be just as effective at the next level, too. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds, which was the fastest time among edge rushers at the 2025 NFL Combine and puts him in the 97th percentile among edge rushers in the Mockdraftable database.

That speed, coupled with his length and size, gives Pearce a foundation that defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich is excited to build upon.

"If you looked at the best rushers in this draft, you could have made a case that he was the best one from a pure edge element," Ulbrich said. "So, we had conviction in that. We did a lot of work with on him on the field and off the field and felt great about the man that he is and the player that he is."

There were concerns about Pearce's football makeup that surfaced throughout the pre-draft process, and the Falcons took those seriously. Atlanta underwent what Fontenot called an "exhaustive process" to make sure it felt comfortable adding Pearce to the team's culture.

After meeting with him and those close to him multiple times, the Falcons felt good about the person they were bringing on board. And when it comes to on the field, Pearce won't be asked to go at it alone.

"Man, it's getting like waves of pass rush," Falcons defensive line coach Nate Ollie said. "Can't say it enough. We have waves of pass rush. When guys get tired, we talk about having no weak links and not missing a beat."

In addition to Pearce, the Falcons added veterans Leonard Floyd and Morgan Fox to their defensive line this offseason. They also selected Jalon Walker with the No. 15 pick and plan to have the versatile linebacker focus primarily on playing off the edge in Year 1. Those four newcomers join a young unit looking for a breakout season.

While the Falcons will use training camp to fine-tune what those waves of pass rush look like, it's clear how Pearce already fits into that puzzle.

"What you're going to see is speed," Falcons assistant general manager Kyle Smith said. "I mean, there is juice in his body and twitch and explosion instinct."

At Tennessee, Pearce was consistently the first one off the ball. He stresses offensive tackles in a blink due to his burst, which can open up multiple paths to the quarterback later in the rep and change how he gets defended as a game wears along. Speed is one of the most difficult attributes to mitigate, and Pearce brings a lot of it to Atlanta's defense.

Virtually every team in the NFL would prefer to be able to pressure the quarterback with only four pass rushers, which would allow a defense to drop seven players into coverage. That has been difficult for the Falcons to achieve in recent years, and they've relied on blitzes and simulated pressures to get players like inside linebacker Kaden Elliss more involved.

After this offseason, however, the Falcons believe a four-man rush is feasible. Pearce's speed off the edge should pull offensive tackles wide, creating more room for Atlanta's three-technique — a defensive lineman like Ruke Orhorhoro or David Onyemata — to work against the guard. That is a small example of how pass rushers can benefit one another even if they aren't working directly together.

This ripple effect is another reason why the Falcons felt compelled to make the aggressive move for Pearce in the draft. Atlanta needed to help its pass rush, so why wait another year to continue to build when an opportunity was present in the moment, especially with a player it thought was in the top tier of prospects?

"If we're going into next year, we were hoping that Jalon Walker would be there next year, a James Pearce would be there next year to take another pressure player," Smith said. "Well, this year we're sitting there, and we've got an opportunity, if it works, to take two players from that bucket."

The Falcons have not been content to take half-measured approaches to their offseason problems. Be it quarterback or edge rusher, there is a level of urgency to the organization's moves that suggest the team believes it's not far off from achieving its goals.

If that means paying a little bit more up front to make those goals a reality, the Falcons are willing to do what it takes.

"You talk about putting a premium on pass rush," Ollie said. "People talk about it, but everybody showed it in the building they're committed with their actions. Putting a premium on pass rush and getting two pass rushers, that's great."