The Falcons are 3-4 through the first seven weeks. Those aren’t typically the kind of teams taking aggressive swings at the trade deadline.

But they find themselves just a half-game out of first place in the NFC South, and since Michael Penix Jr. returned under center, they’re 3-2 with road wins over the Packers and Saints and a home win over the formerly undefeated 49ers.

Atlanta’s defensive front has been menacing since Week 1, among the best in the league at getting after the quarterback. And it’s set to get star pass rusher James Pearce Jr. back in a couple of weeks from his eight-game suspension. That could have this side of the ball looking really scary, paired with an offense that has made massive strides thanks to the development of Michael Penix Jr.

Go to any stat category for quarterbacks and you’ll find Penix somewhere in the top 10. He has nine touchdowns to just one interception, ranks ninth in the league in completion percentage, ninth in QBR, and fourth in passer rating. That’s a franchise quarterback, one who seems to be improving with each passing start in a new offense under Kevin Stefanski and Tommy Rees.

This is a team that should feel like it has a golden opportunity to win the NFC South and snap a postseason drought that’s lasted since the 2017 season. But that still doesn’t mean the Falcons should be buyers at this year’s trade deadline.

So far, this season has far more positive storylines than negative ones — something that hasn’t been true in over a half-decade. The coaching staff has clearly been upgraded, with Rees and Stefanski helping Penix establish himself as a legitimate threat at the position. Just as encouraging, Matt Ryan and Ian Cunningham seem to have pulled all the right strings from a personnel standpoint this offseason, even while working at a serious disadvantage.

The draft class is looking like a home run. The Falcons didn’t have a first-round pick and had just six selections in total, yet they came away with four immediate contributors. In free agency, Jahan Dotson, Za’Darius Smith, Samson Ebukam, Brian Robinson Jr., and Cam Thomas all required very little investment yet have made major impacts, while the trades for Gervon Dexter Sr. and Maason Smith have completely revitalized the interior of the defensive line, giving the Falcons something to build around moving forward.

Even with all of those additions, though, this is not yet a championship-caliber football team. There’s no reason to give away future picks in a season where a Super Bowl is nothing more than a pipe dream. That’s what bad organizations do — the exact habit this new regime is trying to break.

Next offseason, the Falcons will have a full allotment of draft picks along with an ungodly amount of cap space. Ryan and Cunningham will be able to completely overhaul the roster with top-tier talent. At that point, the Falcons should feel like they’re in a position to seriously compete, and mortgaging future picks might make sense.

For now, it’s best to just enjoy the ride of a team clearly heading in the right direction. This was always going to be a multi-year rebuild. Straying off course to chase a win this year isn’t something the Falcons should be looking to do as the trade deadline approaches.

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