Atlanta Falcons Come To Agreement With Grady Jarrett At Last Minute
By Deke Lloyd
The Falcons got their guy, and their guy got paid. The Atlanta Falcons and Grady Jarrett were able to come to an agreement, 4 years for 68 million, to avoid having Jarrett play under the franchise tag.
The deadline for Grady Jarrett and the Falcons to come to an agreement was today at 4 P.M. ET. They got the deal done a little before 3 this afternoon. The deal is 68 million over 4 years, an average of about 17 a year, with 42.5 million of the deal guaranteed. The deal will make Grady Jarrett the third-highest paid defensive tackle, only behind Fletcher Cox and Aaron Donald.
With this deal getting done, the Falcons can now rest easier knowing they have one of their biggest contributors on defense locked up for the future. Now, with the Jarrett deal done, the Falcons can move on to locking down their other younger players on the defensive side of the ball. Deion Jones seems to be next on the list of the Falcons priorities.
Now that the Falcons have reached agreement on a $68 million deal with Grady Jarrett, Atlanta is turning its attention to LB Deion Jones. Falcons and Jones’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, scheduled for face-to-face negotiations in Atlanta on Wednesday, per source. Another deal in works.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 15, 2019
The Falcons focusing on getting deals done with their young core, Jarrett and Jones, is the right move. A lot of the offseason discussion has been about another Jones, Julio Jones, and his contract renegotiations. Julio has been paid, very handsomely, for his services, and will be paid again in the future. Paying the young guys like they deserved to be paid is the right move for the Falcons. Hopefully, Keanu Neal won’t be far behind.
However, with every contract, some fans and pundits aren’t happy with the deal. Yes, Jarrett is being paid like one of the top defensive tackles in the game, i.e. Fletcher Cox and Aaron Donald, but the numbers show that Jarrett isn’t as productive as those two players. It’s a lot of money, but in my opinion, that’s just the cost of doing business. One of the Falcons best players on their defense was due for a contract, and he got paid what market value deemed. Jarrett was asking for equal money to Cox and Donald. What else is should he do, ask for less money?
Whether we are happy or frustrated by the deal the Falcons agreed to is beside the point. This Falcons defense is better with Grady Jarrett. It’s that simple. Gerald McCoy didn’t sign with the Falcons and Jack Crawford or Jack Davidson aren’t as good as Grady Jarrett. The Falcons got their guy. And Jarrett got paid. It’s a good deal for both sides.