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.”
Dimitroff has echoed the same sentiment on multiple occasions.
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 Grady is likely how close the Falcons feel they need get to Donald’s deal.
Donald, who was drafted in the first round, 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 the 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 that he will not received a restricted free agent tender.
The Falcons can continue to negotiate a new contract with Jarrett until July 15.
The Falcons have sparingly used the franchise tag on position players. The team put tag on cornerback Brent Grimes in 2012 for $10.28 million after the failed to reach a long-term deal. Before Grimes, they used to return punter/kickoff specialist Michael Koenen in 2009 for $2.4 million.
Falcons coach Dan Quinn said last week that the team would consider using the franchise tag on Jarrett if the two sides cannot reach a new deal.
“I would say it’s definitely on the table to discuss really thoroughly, but we’ll have to wait until to then to see if a deal can be done first,” Quinn said Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine.
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,” Quinn said. “Until, we’ll take all of the time that both sides need. Both sides know that he’s a really important piece.”
Jarrett’s value is very high after a stellar four years after he was selected in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL draft.
OverTheCap.com and ProFootballFocus.com have projected that 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.
Jarrett had 52 tackles, six sacks, 16 quarterback 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.
Jarrett 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.
During Super Bowl LI, Jarrett tied an NFL record with three sacks against the New England Patriots. Since sacks became an official statistic in 1982, three other players have posted three sacks in the Super Bowl — Darnell Dockett, Kony Ealy and Reggie White.
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