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This is a morning of emotions. We passed along the news from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that a Grady Jarrett extension was unlikely. NFL’s Ian Rapsheet said there was “significant” ground to cover between the parties.
Things were grim. Until they weren’t.
There is now some hope that the Falcons and franchised DT Grady Jarrett can beat today’s 4 p.m. ET deadline for a long-term deal and get done an agreement, per sources. No assurances, but both sides working to make it happen. Deadlines spur action.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 15, 2019
Schefter obviously softened on his prior characterization. The fact that both sides are still negotiating is very reassuring. For comparison, it sounds like Jadeveon Clowney is not even negotiating with the Houston Texans. Jarrett is obviously not ready to play out the franchise tag and his free agency in 2020.
My guess is Jarrett’s agent wants to use Aaron Donald’s contract as a starting point and move back. The Falcons probably want to look at a more comparable players like Fletcher Cox and move up. That’s a difference of about $5.5 million per year. Spotrac projects his value well below both at $15.5 million per year. That number looks surprisingly low. If both sides come to the middle, Jarrett should average around $20 million or so per season.
What does this mean? It is unlikely we will know how this shakes out until today’s deadline at 4pm. They probably will not have a deal done early.