Falcons head coach comments on a former Tiger’s future

Grady Jarrett has spent all of his NFL career so far (2015-21) playing for the Atlanta Falcons, who drafted the former Clemson defensive lineman in the fifth round (137th overall pick) of the 2015 NFL Draft. That has proved to be a strong draft …

Grady Jarrett has spent all of his NFL career so far (2015-21) playing for the Atlanta Falcons, who drafted the former Clemson defensive lineman in the fifth round (137th overall pick) of the 2015 NFL Draft.

That has proved to be a strong draft choice for the Falcons as Jarrett has been selected to two Pro Bowls (2019, 2020), was named an All-Pro in 2019 and helped Atlanta to an NFC Championship and Super Bowl apperance in 2016.

Now, Jarrett is entering the final year of the four-year contract he signed with the Falcons in 2019 — his second deal with the organization — and it remains to be seen whether the two sides will strike a third deal to keep him around in Atlanta even longer.

The Falcons have a decision to make as they can either trade Jarrett and save cap space, let him finish out his contract, or give him an extension.

Last week, Falcons head coach Arthur Smith commented on Jarrett’s future and discussed the possibility of a contract extension.

Smith didn’t say anything concrete about Jarrett’s future but expressed that the franchise certainly values him.

“I’m not going to predict that I 100 percent know,” Smith said, via Falcons.com. “He knows where we stand. We love Grady. We also know that players may have their own opinions, and that’s welcome. It’s part of doing business. We’ll see how it plays out. I love Grady and we’d love to keep coaching him.”

Jarrett finished the 2021 season with 59 total tackles, 12 quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery.

In his NFL career, the former first-team All-ACC selection at Clemson has racked up 359 total tackles, 54 tackles for loss, 26.5 sacks, 89 quarterback hits, five forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries in 110 career games (95 starts).

–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images 

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