The Falcons will not pursue quarterback Lamar Jackson in free agency, according to a person with the team familiar with the situation.
The Ravens placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson before the 4 p.m. deadline Tuesday. The Ravens were hoping to get a long-term deal done before they had to make the franchise tag decision.
“It’s a tough negotiation,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. “There are some dynamics that make it challenging, but I remain optimistic. We remain talking. I’m excited about that.”
Despite the front office optimism, the two sides were not able to broker a deal.
The non-exclusive tag allows a team – now not the Falcons – to sign Jackson to a long-term offer sheet. If the Ravens don’t match, they would receive two first-round picks and lose Jackson, who has a 46-15 regular-season record but is 1-3 in the playoffs. The non-exclusive tag means Jackson will count $32.4 million against the Ravens’ salary cap.
The Ravens could have placed the exclusive franchise tag on Jackson, which would have prevented other teams from negotiating with him.
However, the Ravens still could trade him. The Ravens would have had to restructure several contracts and cut some players to create enough room to fit the $45 million exclusive franchise-tag price under the salary cap.
“It’s not like we didn’t know we might be in this position last year at this time,” DeCosta said. “We talked about it. We’ve had a full year to really discuss all of the different plans. We’ll make the right decision.”
The dynamic Jackson, who is from Miami and played at Louisville, has been spectacular when healthy. However, he’s missed significant time over the past two seasons. He played in 24 of 34 regular-season games. He also didn’t play in the playoffs loss after last season and offended some of the faithful by not attending the game.
He didn’t play when the Ravens defeated the Falcons 17-9 on Dec. 24.
The Falcons moved on from Matt Ryan last season and lost the Deshaun Watson derby to Cleveland. Watson, the former ballboy for the Falcons, landed a five-year, $230 million deal while facing suspension from the league for sexual misconduct. Watson, who played at Gainesville High and Clemson, was eventually suspended for 11 games and fined $5 million.
The Falcons traded Ryan to the Colts, signed Marcus Mariota and then drafted Desmond Ridder in the third round (74th overall) of the 2022 draft. Mariota started 13 games and left the team after he was demoted. He was released last Wednesday.
Logan Woodside was signed to back up Ridder after Mariota went on injured reserve. Ridder started the final four games and went 2-2. But over the offseason, the Falcons have been reluctant to declare Ridder as their quarterback of the future.
“We are not in the business of anointing players but really excited about what he’s done,” Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said at the combine.
During the combine, the Falcons had a chance to interview up to 45 of the 319 players. They interviewed several of the top quarterback prospects in Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Kentucky’s Will Levis and Florida’s Anthony Richardson, who told them that he was faster than tight end Kyle Pitts.
Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, who weighed in at 204 pounds, is considered the top quarterback in the draft by NFL Network analyst Charles Davis.
The Falcons also are likely watching the veteran free-agent market but were not players in the Derek Carr situation. He visited the Jets and the Panthers before signing a four-year deal worth $150 million with the Saints on Monday.
Carr, a four-time Pro Bowl player, was benched last season in favor of Jarrett Stidham.
Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers could become available, and Carson Wentz was released by the Commanders last week.
The Panthers, Saints and Falcons all pursued Watson before he elected to sign with the Browns.
