The Atlanta Falcons had strong interest in trading for Deshaun Watson last year, which led to some expectation that the team would have interest in Lamar Jackson this offseason. But the Falcons have not shown interest in the Baltimore Ravens quarterback. Now we have a good idea why that is the case.
Falcons owner Arthur Blank spoke with the media from the NFL Annual Meetings in Phoenix on Tuesday. Blank said the Watson and Jackson situations are different. He highlighted Jackson’s style of play and implied there is risk in signing the quarterback.
Though Blank acknowledged that Jackson is “one of the top quarterbacks in the league,” he pointed to the Ravens quarterback’s health as a question.
“Looking at it objectively I’d say there’s some concern over how long can he play his style of game. Hopefully a long time … but he’s missed five, six games each of the last two years. Each game counts a lot in our business,” Blank said.
That is the argument many people have used when talking about Jackson not receiving huge interest from other teams. Any team that signs Jackson to an offer sheet would have to give up draft compensation and guarantee Jackson likely over $200 million. That’s much more guaranteed money than any player not named Watson has received. That kind of money is especially risky when you consider Jackson has only played 12 games each of the last two seasons.
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