Grady Jarrett: Should Falcons 'Love' Him, Pay Him, or Trade Him to Cowboys?

We're betting the Falcons would be willing to be sellers here, and for something far less than an early-round NFL Draft pick. But ...

The Atlanta Falcons are in a tough spot with big-name defensive tackle Grady Jarrett. They profess to "love'' him - that comes from team owner Arthur Blank and head coach Arthur Smith - but they hint at an acknowledgement that he's a pricy piece in a rebuild.

Enter the Dallas Cowboys and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

Jarrett has one season remaining on his four-year, $68 million contract and is due a $16.5 million salary in 2022. To Dallas those are ... well, obstacles. That's premium dollars for a player who did make the Pro Bowl twice, and who is just 28. And part of a trade would surely include a new contract.

Can the Cowboys get the Falcons to consider footing some of the bill? Can Quinn do what he's done inside The Star with other guys who played for him in Atlanta - Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee (for a year in 2021) and now Dante Fowler all becoming Cowboys?

We know the way the Cowboys lean here. The defensive tackles on the roster are the just-signed Carlos Watkins (on a vet's mimimum) and a collection of kids: Neville Gallimore, Osa Odighizuwa, Trysten Hill and Quinton Bohanna.

We're betting the Falcons would be willing to be sellers here, and for something far less than an early-round NFL Draft pick. But we can understand why the Cowboys don't want to pay on a guy who last year made 17 appearances but had just one sack. He was given a poor 67.8 grade from Pro Football Focus after previously coming in at 80.2 and 90.1 during the prior two years.

Sacks aren't everything, but the 6-1, 305-pound Jarrett, a former fifth-round pick, is more of a plugger. He had 7.5 sacks in a season a few years ago, but annually collects three or four sacks.

Is that worth a premium price, especially if Jarrett's presence frees up guys like Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Fowler and Dorance Armstrong to get to the QB?

Quinn has a commitment to the Cowboys. “I have unfinished business here,” Quinn told CowboysSI.com in an exclusive interview. on March 11. “We have the right people in place to accomplish the things everyone in this building is working to accomplish. We’re doing that right now. We’re doing it today – grinding toward a goal.”

Grady Jarrett is almost certainly DQ's idea of "the right people.'' But unless the Falcons want to pick up the check on this one, he's probably not the Cowboys' idea of "the right price.''

In the meantime, Jarrett's is definitely the Arthurs' idea of "the right people.'' But is the idea of "the Falcons future''? The answer to that question looms.