Grady Jarrett tagged by Falcons; two sides are reportedly far apart and decent chance a holdout happens

The Atlanta Falcons are desperate for some defensive help this coming season and as such are making sure that star defensive tackle Grady Jarrett does not leave in free agency by utilizing the franchise tag on Jarrett. 

Jarrett, a fifth-round pick out of Clemson back in the 2015 NFL Draft, has been a highly productive player since arriving in Atlanta and particularly over the last two years.

He was a borderline Super Bowl MVP candidate until the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead and Jarrett has spent the last two years piling up a total of 10 sacks, 23 tackles for loss, 29 quarterback hits and an average of 54 tackles per game.

Interior pressure creates disruption and Jarrett is as good as just about anyone when it comes to creating interior pressure. As a result of the tag, Jarrett will be offered a one-year, $15.209 million tender by the Falcons.

“As we have said since the end of the season, getting a deal done with Grady is our priority,” Dimitroff said. “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.”

Don’t be surprised if Jarrett is not in a rush to sign the tag; by all reports the two sides have not been close on a contract. Jarrett earned less than $3 million on his rookie deal and while getting $15 million for a single year would be nice, you can believe he would vastly prefer to hit free agency and make a massive splash on the open market.

The Falcons have been pretty good about rewarding their own players when it comes to guys they drafted and developed, but they also might see this as a win-or-else year and prefer to keep Jarrett on a single-year deal.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, Jarrett knows how important he is to the team this coming year as well, and if they don’t have their stud defensive tackle in the middle of the line, it could be hard to end up where they want from a defensive standpoint. As such, it’s possible that Jarrett is willing to play chicken with Atlanta, which means this contract stalemate could last well beyond the July 15 deadline to extend players who are given the franchise tag.