Falcons insider reveals details about Arthur Blank’s interest in Lamar Jackson before $260M extension (EXCLUSIVE)
The chase for Lamar Jackson had a suitor in Arthur Blank and the Atlanta Falcons, before he signed his deal to stay on at the Baltimore Ravens. After losing former franchise quarterback, Matt Ryan, last year, it made sense for them to try and get a marquee name.
For Blank, the decision would have made both sporting and commercial sense. Getting a big name as a quarterback is bound to get more in revenue streams. In fact, speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, Altanta Falcons insider Darryl Ledbetter said that he has been trying to land a big name since last year.
The Falcons initially tried to get Deshaun Watson. But once Cleveland Browns gave him a guaranted contract, so he left that for last year. But he wanted to try again this year with Lamar Jackson.
Speaking on Sportskeeda's exclusive The BallFather Podcast, he said,
"I think Mr. Blank, I think he was behind the Deshaun Watson thing last year, and when it blew up, and Cleveland paid the money, he kind of left him alone. That didn't work out and, you know, I'm sure he wanted to go after Lamar Jackson because that would have sold tickets…"
So why did the Falcons and Arthur Blank not sign Lamar Jackson?
If it made as much sense as it did, one would assume that the Atlanta Falcons, at least, would have entered a bidding war for Lamar Jackson's services.
But that is when the financial reality known as the NFL salary cap came into view. Even though they reportedly had over $63 million in cap space entering this season, $260 million is still a lot of money to squander on one player. As Ledbetter explained,
"But the money they spent on 16 players would all have went to Lamar, and then they would have been in the same boat playing with a bunch of one-year contract guys. Ceterans, you know, undrafted cats you know… I don't know if he wanted at Lamar but certainly, a lot of people in Atlanta did."
Atlanta is in the need of a rebuild right now and had they gotten Lamar Jackson, they would not have been able to give him the right weapons to win now. They would have gotten stuck with players with single year contract, with lot of churn and not so much talent.
#Falcons are rolling with Desmond Ridder and they're giving him all the weapons. twitter.com/MySportsUpdate…
Therefore, Arthur Blank and the Atlanta Falcons chose to take the sensible road of building the franchise over a longer term. They have placed their faith in Desmond RIdder, hoping the young quarterback can keep the franchise afloat as they rebuild around him.