Arthur Blank explains why Falcons aren’t pursuing Lamar Jackson despite going after Deshaun Watson a year ago

Despite being simply a year got rid of from being some of the 4 groups to throw their hat into the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes, Atlanta Falcons proprietor Arthur Blank mentioned on the NFL house owners conferences Tuesday that his franchise would no longer pursue buying and selling for Lamar Jackson, the 26-year-old, former unanimous NFL MVP quarterback. Blank added that the Jackson scenario is “very different” than Watson’s closing year.

“Different player, different time,” Blank mentioned Tuesday, via The Athletic. “You have a winner (in Jackson), a MVP in the league. There’s no question he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the league.

“Looking at it objectively, I’d say there is some worry over how lengthy can he play his taste of recreation. Hopefully a very long time … however he is neglected 5, six video games each and every of the closing two years. Each recreation counts a lot in our trade”

Watson missed the entire 2021 season and was suspended for the first 11 games of the 2022 campaign as a result of his then-pending litigation involving allegations of sexual misconduct. Watson, unlike Jackson, has suffered multiple torn ACLs — one in 2014 when he was at Clemson and one in 2017 when he was a rookie with the Houston Texans. His availability (or lack thereof) didn’t appear to make much of a difference for Atlanta last offseason. Now, Watson’s five-year, fully-guaranteed $230 million contract he signed upon being acquired by the Cleveland Browns appears to be more of an issue this time around since Jackson has been not able to come back to phrases with the Ravens’ provides of not up to a fully-guaranteed deal. 

Blank additionally said that quarterback Desmond Ridder, the workforce’s third-round pick out within the 2022 NFL Draft, has “continued to show us everything we need to and beyond that to the point” of feeling assured about Ridder as their starter coming into the impending season. Atlanta additionally signed former Washington Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke to a two-year, $14 million contract this offseason to be Ridder’s backup. However, neither the 30-year-old Heinicke nor the 23-year-old Ridder have anything else remotely with regards to a NFL MVP to their title like Jackson earned in 2019.