I'm sorry, Grady Jackson
Your lawsuit wasn't for real
You've got a new three year deal to sign
Now apologize for not get-ting to camp on time
--To the tune of Outkast's Ms. Jackson
Those of you who haven't started cringing at my half-assed attempt to remake Outkast's classic should know that Grady Jackson is finally free of his pissy dispute with the team. This certainly improves the Falcons' defensive line situation with Rod Coleman still very iffy, and it also means the team is going to have to stock the buffet line a bit more heavily. So in that sense, we can breathe a sigh of relief.
What I would really like to know, though, is why Grady Jackson wasted an enormous amount of his own time and energy on this. Maybe the dude's getting a signing bonus to make this whole thing go away, but his base salary is just $1 million a year for the next three. Given that he was supposed to be getting $1.5 million over the next two years, I fail to see how this benefited him in any way. The fact that the Falcons were willing to settle/"resolve" the suit indicates to me that Jackson wasn't totally pulling this whole incident out of his ass. If he's happier having a longer term deal and perhaps a little bit of a bonus, that's cool. I like having Jackson as a run-stopping anchor; he's like the cholesterol to a runner's arteries. For a team that's shaky on tackle depth, Jackson may very well be terrific for us this year.
I just wish he hadn't made the team jump through hoops to get him to camp.