Falcons trade Quinn Ojinnaka to the Patriots
In June 2009, tackle Quinn Ojinnaka (76) and center Ben Wilkerson (67) share a laugh as they walk off the field at the conclusion of team practice. Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com
Offensive lineman Quinn Ojinnaka was traded to the New England Patriots for an undisclosed draft pick on Sunday, the Falcons confirmed. The deal was finalized and announced on Monday.
Ojinnaka was suspended without pay for one game by the NFL for violation of the league’s personal conduct policy. He still must sit out the season opener for the Patriots.
Ojinnaka, who started five games at right guard last season, may participate in all preseason practices and exhibition games.
Ojinnaka, 6-foot-5, 299-pounds, was a fifth-year reserve. He was drafted out of Syracuse in the fifth round of the 2006 draft. He played in 39 games and made 12 starts for the Falcons.
He was originally drafted to be a cut-blocking tackle in the Alex Gibbs blocking scheme that the Falcons ran under Jim Mora. He started seven games at left tackle in2007.
Apparently Ojinnaka was auditioning for the Patriots, who held two practices with the Falcons last Tuesday in Flowery Branch. The Patriots defeated the Falcons 28-10 on Thursday night at the Georgia Dome.
The Falcons have tried to rebuild the depth along their offensive line over the last two offseasons.
They added veteran free agents Brett Romberg and Will Svitek in2009. They also drafted Garrett Reynolds in the fifth round of the 2009 draft. In the 2010 draft, they added guard Mike Johnson in the third round and center Joe Hawley in the fourth round.
The trade of Ojinnaka leaves the Falcons with 78 players on their roster. They have to cut down to 75 players by Aug. 31. The Falcons must cut down to 53 players by Sept. 4.
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78 comments Add your comment
gabeaux
August 22nd, 2010
10:31 pm
can life as we know it go on?
Tale of Woe
August 22nd, 2010
10:33 pm
I like our younger players and rookies – hopefully we got a 4th or 5th rounder, but something tells me it is a 7th in 2012
Zach
August 22nd, 2010
10:36 pm
I bet its a first rounder
D. Orlando Ledbetter
August 22nd, 2010
10:45 pm
gabeaux — I’m not so sure about that.
Zach — You are optimistic.
Big Ray
August 22nd, 2010
10:50 pm
I’m thinking nothing more than a 4th round pick, and that may be optimistic.
Apparently, TD and Smitty feel good enough about the potential and talent of our newer/younger OL prospects. I had Ojinnaka pegged as losing ground on the depth chart anyway…
oranjucejonz
August 22nd, 2010
10:59 pm
Those crafty Pats are at it again.Im hoping that since they are notorious at stockpiling picks that we get one of there 1st or 2nd rd picks,I’m sure they’ll have several in each round as usual
D. Orlando Ledbetter
August 22nd, 2010
11:02 pm
Big Ray — I think you are too high with that 4th round pick.
John
August 22nd, 2010
11:07 pm
The falcons got a 5 or a 6 round pick.
Kane337
August 22nd, 2010
11:07 pm
I’m guessing the Falcons will end up getting a 6th rounder out of this deal.
Dawgtards ruin this state
August 22nd, 2010
11:10 pm
Good move Falcons!
JMar
August 22nd, 2010
11:17 pm
Y’all are cracking me up. A fifth rounder who plays like a fifth rounder and has a one year deal and is suspended for a game does not garner the draft picks that is being suggested. I’d guess it’s a 7th round pick, up to a 6th contingent on playing time.
robertussen
August 22nd, 2010
11:17 pm
6th or 7th round pick i’d guess
Sly Ty
August 22nd, 2010
11:20 pm
6th Rounder at best, BeliCheat always screws over his trade partners. Besides, I don’t think Ojinakka was going to make the current roster.
Billy
August 22nd, 2010
11:23 pm
probably a 7th, and only if he makes the Pats’ roster
Hamad Meander
August 22nd, 2010
11:25 pm
I’d take a 6th rounder for Ojinakka. There was a ton of talent in the 6th round this past draft. I wish the Falcons had keep their two 6th rounders and had chosen a bit more wisely…..
Roy Munson
August 22nd, 2010
11:26 pm
Maybe there sending us Randy Moss
torgo
August 22nd, 2010
11:26 pm
Best guess is a conditional pick – a seventh that could escalate to a sixth based on playing time.
Resign or Resign?
August 22nd, 2010
11:29 pm
Roy:
…and Wes Welker, too!
BT
August 22nd, 2010
11:39 pm
Now the besides the compensation question.
How many O-lineman will the team keep?
Resign or Resign?
August 22nd, 2010
11:52 pm
I really didn’t see QO having a huge part in the Falcons’ plans for this year. I agree with torgo about the pick. I think they keep 9 on the o-line; 5 starters, then 2 reserve tackles (Reynolds being one) and a reserve guard (Johnson) and Hawley; who can play center & guard. If Hawley or Johnson don’t work out, then they’ll keep one of the vets.
Nique
August 23rd, 2010
12:10 am
Hey D-Led
Did you find anything out for us concerning the Kicker situation? & it’s probably a 6th rounder.
PMC
August 23rd, 2010
12:10 am
So Garrett Reynolds is a go. Good.
drmondo
August 23rd, 2010
12:13 am
I’m not sure how well he played in the Pats game…could that have been a reason for letting him go?
Nique
August 23rd, 2010
12:14 am
This will open up more time for Mike Johnson who I’ve heard they are pleased with, while i have read that Hawley has struggled! They seem alot less impressed with him so far but he has time to grow behind McClure.
Resign or Resign?
August 23rd, 2010
12:16 am
PMC:
That’s just IMHO, man.
ATLJBO
August 23rd, 2010
12:24 am
Lets not forget… Quinn Ojinnaka was not going to make the roster most likely…. I see us getting a 5th – 7th round pick.
Superbird
August 23rd, 2010
12:25 am
I have a feeling that the Falcons are getting ready too do some wheeling and dealing for a wide receiver,hopefully. They may have to trade away a pick themselves to get the receiver they’re eyeing.
Resign or Resign?
August 23rd, 2010
12:31 am
About WR; they won’t replace Jenkins; he’ll miss 1-2 games at the most. Meier was going to be the 4-5th WR. The Birds will wait ’til the final cuts and pick up a WR good enough for that slot on the roster if they are not satisfied with Finn, Weems, Bergeron, et. al. Again; IMHO
Superbird
August 23rd, 2010
12:33 am
This may not be the only trade The falcons will pull off. The cowboys are week at OT, they may come calling. The Falcons also have an OT thats been on the practice quad that their high on as well.I would not be surprise if they dealth Baker, For Crayton perhaps?
Superbird
August 23rd, 2010
12:42 am
RR, I think the Falcons will bring in a receiver,I think Coach Smith is sending up a smoke screen so the receivers in camp can continue to compete hard. If they find out the team will acquire a another receiver, competition may tale off.
Resign or Resign?
August 23rd, 2010
1:13 am
Superbird:
I just don’t see the Birds giving up players or draft choices for another WR. As long as they have White, Douglas, Finn et.al. Then when MJ comes back, where would the new receiver play? I ahven’t been to any practices or scrimmages yet; but I’ve heard that a couple of the UFAs have looked good; especially the kid from Villanova. Saw Bergeron in Arena ball; he’s not a 1 or 2; but he certainly seemed to be good enough for a 4 or 5th WR. I, as usual, may be wrong; just IMHO.
Resign or Resign?
August 23rd, 2010
1:14 am
How about “HAVEN’T”, huh? It’s too late.
Paddy
August 23rd, 2010
4:55 am
Does Romberg make this team?
Marcus
August 23rd, 2010
5:51 am
DOL,
What will the ATL brass do about Meier?
Cut downs are coming soon …………..
I saw earlier that they gave someone (I think a DB or LB) an injury settlement before they cut him. Will Meier face the same fate or did he garner enough favor to hang on despite the injury (not sure how that would work)?
Also, whats the word with Corey Peters’ injury?
Got to Upgrade
August 23rd, 2010
5:51 am
If they want to make the playoffs, they need to upgrade WR. White is a decent #1, Jenkins (if healthy) is a mediocre #2, and Douglas is a huge question mark. Weems and Finn have not shown they can produce and the rest of the guys are special teams candidates only. The Saints have at least 5 receivers better than our #2 and QB who will get them the ball. No way we beat the Saints this year without improving WR.
Greg
August 23rd, 2010
6:24 am
I could not have said it better than Got to Upgrade. The Jenkins slot at WR is a screaming need.
TrafficHeadache
August 23rd, 2010
6:42 am
Everybody can speculate what we’ll get in the draft next year till the cows come home. I’ll choose to wait and see how it plays out.
Larry
August 23rd, 2010
6:50 am
Still absent from this team’s offensive arsenal is a speed demon at receiver. Get this and watch those safeties stop cheating a step forward and start cheating a step backward, and one step here or there is the difference in a few more critical first downs and touchdowns!
All the great offensive teams had or have a true post wide receiver. We have all posession receivers, including White and Douglass, both of who are quick but neither’s speed triggers the safties fear of being burned.
nes
August 23rd, 2010
7:22 am
Everyone knows that GM Demitroff gives players away for little or nothing. It will be a 7th round pick and you can bank on it. Forget receiver for now, they have a few areas to work/improve on first, like stopping the 3rd down failures to stop the other team. Also, don’t forget W.Moore in losing his roster spot since he can’t stay healthy, he was supposed to play against the dolphins but now its hopefully he can play–doesn’t sound to good to me.
nes
August 23rd, 2010
7:26 am
Also, all the talk of upgrading receiver, the falcons missed Bryant in the first round and M. Williams in the fourth round-taken by Tampa and is a steal all because the falcons won’t take a chance on any player with a few isssues in the draft. So Mr. Blank, GM Demitroff and Coach Smith can live with that and watch falcons get bottled up on offense by other team’s defense and Ryan running for his life again.
Notso Fast
August 23rd, 2010
7:27 am
6th or 7th round pick but I think the Falcons are trying to get younger with players that have an upside in the O line. He was probably facing being cut.
sleeze
August 23rd, 2010
7:44 am
Dang.. I hate it when the Falcons trade my favorite player away!
mountain_jim
August 23rd, 2010
8:03 am
I agree that the Falcons WR stable is woefully lacking in speed and depth… but with Mularkey’s crappy run-first, pass-last rudimentary pass-game they probably don’t see the position as a need – long as they can block.
mountain_jim
August 23rd, 2010
8:06 am
and I bet it is a 7th conditional on him making team – in aother words, not much at all.
Got to Upgrade
August 23rd, 2010
8:09 am
Agree with NES. Also, why pass on Jordan Shipley and Riley Cooper?
willie g loves football
August 23rd, 2010
8:13 am
it will be a fifth the pats have been stockpiling 4ths and 5ths you heard it here first , and if atlanta foes not get the D LINE in gear they will not beat PITTSBURG GAME ONE AS A matter of fact i already put my money on pitts burg plus 2and one half , go falcons win by 1 so i can have my cake nad eat it too.
willie g loves football
August 23rd, 2010
8:14 am
atlanta needs to run the ball control the clock keep pittsburg off the field.
blord
August 23rd, 2010
8:45 am
great! We got something for a guy that wouldn’t be on our opening day roster. I am happy no matter what round it was in.
TomQ
August 23rd, 2010
9:02 am
Glad that Dimitrof is so strategic. Everybody is wrapped up in this upcoming season and he’s focused on the big picture. That is how to build a sustainable team.
Smiling Jack
August 23rd, 2010
9:03 am
Bring on the season! I’m excited to see just how good those Falcons are!!! Go Falcons…. the goal is or should be 16 and 0! Before the first game is played why should it be anything less?
Cut Block
August 23rd, 2010
9:38 am
The falcons can have all the college players from GA and Alabama combined,they are sorry and wont be able to do none.
The town is sport cursed!
Reason
August 23rd, 2010
9:53 am
Knowing Belicheck – I bet he talked the Falcons into taking an 8th round pick!
Scott Case
August 23rd, 2010
10:06 am
I wouldn’t call trading Ojinnaka for a conditional 7th-rounder looking out for the big picture. Actually, I bet it’s not even a 7th-round pick. It’s probably Ojinnaka in exchange for moving up a few spots in the 7th round, conditioned on whether Ojinnaka makes their roster.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
August 23rd, 2010
10:06 am
trade certainly won’t hurt us, i firmly believe TD knows what he’s doing
Atlanta Falcons trades | Waterford Place
August 23rd, 2010
10:18 am
[...] Ojinnaka has been traded to the New England Patriots during a draft pick this [...]
rodrj32
August 23rd, 2010
10:21 am
Hey Orlando did you notice they had the wrong picture up for you on ESPN the other day. Sort of ticked me off. They had a white dudes picture in the place of yours. WTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
robdawg08
August 23rd, 2010
10:27 am
Falcons should have got somebody on defense that can play like a linebacke,db,or a dl in return trade. Damn !
robdawg08
August 23rd, 2010
10:28 am
Orlando, could the Falcons give Marvin Harrison a look at WR ?
Patriots Fan
August 23rd, 2010
10:47 am
The Falcons actually needed to give up a 5th or 6th round pick so we would take him off your hands !!!
Stuart
August 23rd, 2010
10:51 am
I take it he was our third string option? Do we at least have 2 people who were playing ahead of him on the depth chart?
ryan
August 23rd, 2010
11:08 am
I still hope the Falcons pursue Vincent Jackson he is game changer i just don’t Jenkins as 2nd WR .
Falcon Jim
August 23rd, 2010
11:31 am
Maybe a bag of balls.
vafalconfan
August 23rd, 2010
11:53 am
A 7th round pick, chin strap? whatever that’s a good deal for the Falcons.
Dex
August 23rd, 2010
12:10 pm
I feel we need a WR. Roddy White as the #1 WR, HD in the slot, the new guy opposite White, and Michael Jenkins as the #4 WR.
I think Michael Jenkins will be better as the 4th WR anyway.
Whatadahoi
August 23rd, 2010
12:13 pm
This is a headline about nothing. A mediocre team trades a third-string OL for a conditional 7th round draft pick to a team that has a million late round picks. (Yawn) Wake me when something real happens.
E
August 23rd, 2010
12:36 pm
Another player drafted by Atlanta that they never developed into a good player. I don’t understand why they trading for more draft picks when they never do anything with them. Damn having a lot of picks when you don’t know what and how to use them. Watch and see how the Pats will develop Quinn Ojinnaka into a good player because that’s what good teams and organization do that win games, superbowls, good coaching, etc. Being an average team seems to be the goal for the Falcons and pretending to be a great team to the fans so they could sell tickets.
Tweets that mention Falcons trade Quinn Ojinnaka to the Patriots | Atlanta Falcons -- Topsy.com
August 23rd, 2010
1:04 pm
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ryan
August 23rd, 2010
1:07 pm
This could come back to haunt the Falcons if they don’t trade for good WR or a DE .
Tweets that mention Falcons trade Quinn Ojinnaka to the Patriots | Atlanta Falcons -- Topsy.com
August 23rd, 2010
1:07 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Chip Caray, patsnews, patsnews, Atlanta Falcons, Chip Caray and others. Chip Caray said: NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! “@AJCFalcons: Quinn Ojinnaka is traded to the New England Patriots — http://bit.ly/aYM8rA” [...]
BigTimeTECHFan
August 23rd, 2010
4:22 pm
Draft Joshua Nesbitt with the pick and it will be a good trade.
waynester
August 23rd, 2010
4:58 pm
Don’t sleep on Dimitroff as we near the cut-downs. We’re building a pretty good year-round scouting staff and they’ll have lots of tape on guys from other team’s that we liked all along but maybe didn’t have a shot at as a late rounder/UFA from teams with solid, veteran depth. We’re building with young guys anyway, so another team has already put him through camp–he just needs time in our playbook to get up to speed, playing on ST in the meantime….
Red_Rarri84
August 23rd, 2010
5:04 pm
Lets face it this is a special team player pick or hopefully a kicker since im tired of our old wiley vet kickers.
ryan
August 23rd, 2010
5:41 pm
Dude enough with Josh Nesbitt man crush this is Falcons blog besides i say Ryan Malitt or Mark Ingram will win the Heisman Trophy .
ctfalconsfan
August 23rd, 2010
6:24 pm
TomQ
August 23rd, 2010
9:02 am
Glad that Dimitrof is so strategic. Everybody is wrapped up in this upcoming season and he’s focused on the big picture. That is how to build a sustainable team.
———————
Look Tom Q this is Tom D’s 3rd year, ENOUGH building GET IT DONE on the field NOW!!!!
ctfalconsfan
August 23rd, 2010
6:34 pm
My concern with Dimitrof is he seems to believe that having A LOT of 2nd string guys competing for a starting spot is a good thing. Conerback and DE are two perfect examples.
- I like Bierman but he’s no starter in the NFL likewise with Grimes. Again I like both these guys as they work hard but they aren’t NFL starters.
So we have a competition with several 2nd stringers but the result is the winner of a starting spot is just the best 2nd string player we have..
Unfortunately this looks like what is happening with our #2 WR as well. Let’s face it Jenkins is a VERY WEAK #2 receiver for us to start with so I was hoping we would bring in a real deep threat when he got hurt. Douglas OK, but to say FINN? Again love FINN but the guy is certtainly not a deep threat..
ryan
August 23rd, 2010
7:00 pm
Falcons have to something add some depth either at WR or DE because if P. Jerry or Corey Peters go down thats the season .
kingsley
August 23rd, 2010
11:13 pm
its probably an 8th round pick hahahaha
Sid
August 24th, 2010
10:36 am
I looked at each team on the Falcons schedule to see what the opposition had the previous week they play the Falcons. Turns out 12 of the teams played their previous week on the road. They only face one team coming off of their bye week, the Bengals. We catch the Saints coming off of a road trip to SF for Monday Night Football. We catch Carolina coming off a road trip to Seattle. We play Green Bay the week after they play a huge away game against the Vikings. Also, Philadelphia plays us after a road trip to SF. And the Saints may well be pretty beat up for that MNF game after they tangle with the Ravens.
Falcons Vs——————————who opp. played the previous week
@ Steelers——————————–
Arizona ———————————–@ Rams
@ Saints———————————–@ 49ers (MNF)
San Francisco—————————–@ KC
@ Cleveland——————————-Bengals
@ Eagles————————————@ 49ers
Bengals—————————————Bye Week
Falcons Bye Week———————————
Tampa—————————————@ Cardinals
Baltimore————————————Miami
@ Rams————————————–@ 49ers
Packers ————————————–@ Minnesota
@ Tampa————————————-@ Baltimore
@ Carolina———————————–@ Seahawks
@ Seahawks ———————————@ 49ers
Saints (MNF)——————————-@ Ravens
Carolina—————————————@ Steelers