The Atlanta Falcons will not risk letting their best defensive lineman test the open market. According to an article on the official team website, Atlanta is placing the non-exclusive franchise tag on defensive tackle Grady Jarrett. Jarrett was set to become a free agent on March 13. By using the tag, the Falcons make sure they won’t lose him to another team this year.
The franchise tag for defensive tackles in 2019 is set at $15.2 million. That doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what Jarrett will make this year, though. A long-term deal could still be signed before July 15. If no deal is reached by that point, then that’s Jarrett’s 2019 salary.
The point is that now the front office and Jarrett’s representation have a whole calendar year to work out a long-term contract extension.
That was general manager Thomas Dimitroff’s takeaway when he commented on the move, per the team.
“As we have said since the end of the season, getting a deal done with Grady is our priority. 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.”
Reports over the weekend indicated that the two sides are still far apart on the figures.
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