Following the end of the regular season, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank spoke with the media.
After a season in which the team missed the playoffs and finished third in the AFC South with a 7-10 record, mainly in part due to uneven play at the quarterback position, Blank was asked if it was a mistake not to pursue Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson this past offseason when the former MVP was made available for trade offers.
“I don’t think so,” Blank said. “He’s obviously an incredible player. We did not have the cap space. We felt we had an answer in [Desmond] Ridder, a younger player without that kind of contract that would have kept us from actually building the team we wanted to build.”
Was it a mistake not to pursue Lamar Jackson?
Falcons owner Arthur Blank: “I don’t think so.”
pic.twitter.com/ZNXgHD8kOo— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) January 8, 2024
Baltimore likely would have matched any offer, but Atlanta could have made things hard by guaranteeing most, if not all, of the deal the way Cleveland did for Deshaun Watson.
The Falcons now find themselves searching for their next quarterback and head coach, while Jackson has led the Ravens to a league-best 13-4 record and is potentially in line to win the second MVP title of his sixth-year career.
