The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Falcons give Jarrett franchise tag
Team, free agent can continue to negotiate for a deal until June 15.
With the Falcons not close to reaching a new contract deal with Grady Jarrett, the team placed the franchise tag on the defensive tackle Monday.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Saturday that a new deal was not close, according to a person with knowledge of the negotiations.
“As we have said since the end of the season, getting a deal done with Grady is our priority,” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said in a statement. “Applying the franchise tag to him does not change that in any way. Our aim is for Grady to be an integral part of our plan for many years to come and this allows us to extend our negotiating window.”
The Falcons can continue to negotiate a new contract with Jarrett until July 15.
Rams tackle Aaron Donald re-set the defensive tackle market with a six-year, $135 million deal, which had a $40 million signing bonus and $86.8 million guaranteed. The deal reached last year averaged $22.5 million per year. The issue with Jarrett is likely how close the Falcons feel they need to get to Donald’s deal. Donald had 29 sacks over his first four seasons. Jarrett has 14 sacks over his first four seasons.
In order to retain Jarrett’s rights and block him from becoming an unrestricted free agent when the new league year starts March 13, the Falcons placed the tag on him a day before the deadline. The franchise tag price for defensive tackles is set at $15.209 million, the average of the top five paid players at the position. That would gobble up most of the Falcons’ $22.3 million in space under the salary cap heading into free agency. The salary cap for the 2019 NFL season was set at $188.2 million.
Actually, with Jarrett’s tag
and the rookie pool of $8 million the Falcons are upside-down on the cap by just under $1 million. They’ve already released cornerback Robert Alford and defensive end Brooks Reed. They’ve told kicker Matt Bryant that his contract will expire and told cornerback Brian Poole he will not receive a restricted free-agent tender.
The franchise tag for defensive tackles was $13.615 million last season. “The good news is … that our team and Grady’s team can have good conversations about things that hopefully we can keep working toward some common ground that would be right for both sides,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “We’ll take all of the time that both sides need. Both sides know that he’s a really important piece.”
OverTheCap.com and ProFootballFocus.com have projected Jarrett is worth a five-year, $82.5 million deal with $46 million guaranteed. Spotrac has a lower five-year, $76.2 million projection on Jarrett, who had 52 tackles, six sacks, 16 QB hits, three forced fumbles and eight tackles for losses last season.
Jarrett’s rookie contract was a four-year, $2.527 million deal signed with the Falcons on May 8, 2015. He has played in 61 games and made 46 starts. He’s made 179 tackles (95 solo) with 14 sacks, 31 tackles for loss, one fumble recovery and 40 quarterback hits in his career.
During Super Bowl LI, Jarrett tied an NFL record with three sacks against the New England Patriots.