A.J. Terrell draft night takes have aged like Mickey Rourke.
The #Falcons worked out CB C.J. Henderson today, source says. TBD whether Atlanta will sign the former first-round pick of the #Jaguars, who spent last season with the #Steelers after three years with the #Panthers. pic.twitter.com/0KCzwMQXvf
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 31, 2025
Once upon a time, your beloved Atlanta Falcons were considering trading up for C.J. Henderson, but those trade plans fell through, and the team is lucky they did. Henderson was a top 10 pick in the 2020
draft, but he was traded to the Panthers in just his second season in the league, and last season, he was with the Steelers but didn’t log a single snap.
The former University of Florida product is now looking for any opportunity to keep his career alive, and Atlanta has the ability to throw him a lifeline. This wouldn’t be the first time the Falcons take a risk on a corner drafted ahead of Terrell in 2020.
In 2023, Terry Fontenot traded a 5th-round pick only a few weeks before the draft for Jeff Okudah. We will always have that glorious five-game stretch where Okudah looked like a legit answer opposite of Terrell before falling off a cliff.
Now, only a few years later, the team is kicking the tires on another first-round bust. However, just because a player has not or will not live up to their original draft pick doesn’t mean they can’t provide value. Take Mike Hughes, for example. Hughes wasn’t able to live up to his first-round pick status, but he has found a home in Atlanta and proven that he is good enough for the CB2 role.
The lack of depth at outside corner was discussed thoroughly all offseason, and after getting through the first week of camp, it makes sense that the team would want to continue churning the roster.
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