Arthur Blank testified injuries factored into Falcons’ decision not to pursue Lamar Jackson

There were legitimate business reasons to not pursue Lamar Jackson, but Atlanta’s quarterback situation today still raises questions.

It’s been two years and four starting quarterbacks since the spring of Lamar Jackson’s free agency. The Atlanta Falcons entered that free agency cycle with unproven third-round pick Desmond Ridder as their quarterback.

They left with Taylor Heinicke and zero outgoing calls to the Baltimore Ravens — an equation that befuddled many across the country and caused frustrations to boil over during a volatile 2023 season.

Why?

Why didn’t the Falcons pursue Lamar Jackson? Why did the entire league take that same approach? Today, Pablo Torre and Mike Florio (nightmare cop duo) shed some light on the situation, and the answer is simple: collusion (allegedly).

Torre got his hands on the 61-page collusion ruling, and it includes never-before-disclosed details about specific player negotiations, most notably Lamar Jackson. I reviewed the document myself for this piece.

The ruling discloses the results of extensive discovery and a private hearing involving witness testimony from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, prominent quarterbacks (Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, and Russell Wilson), eight owners, NFLPA leaders, and various agents and executives. It also details a private presentation for all 32 NFL owners at an annual meeting following the Cleveland Browns’ unprecedented, fully guaranteed contract for Deshaun Watson.

Torre’s breakdown is worth your time; however, my focus is on Arthur Blank’s involvement.

Blank was one of the eight owners who testified, and his comments revealed why the team did not pursue Lamar. Per the ruling, Blank testified that Jackson’s injuries were factors in the Falcons public decision not to pursue the quarterback.

As a reminder, the Falcons publicly stated they would not pursue the MVP, something we have never seen the team do before or after this isolated incident involving a player on the market. And why would they? It is a bad approach to business. To add insult to injury, the team was so excited to sign Kirk Cousins despite a ruptured Achilles a year later that they committed a tampering violation.

Blank also testified that keeping their quarterback (Desmond Ridder) rather than pursuing Jackson gave them more cap flexibility. It’s a true statement, but it doesn’t justify passing up on a talent like Lamar, who would win his second MVP in 2023. How would the Falcons even know his cost was too high without making a call?

The NFL did not want to see another player get a contract like Deshaun Watson’s, and the Falcons played ball. The 61-page document revealed details about a closed-door owners’ meeting. The meeting contained a slide deck focusing on signing bonuses and salary guarantees. Presenters pointed out the uptick in dead cap and other non-fungible business areas. This presentation was conveniently put together after Deshaun Watson signed his guaranteed deal, but the league insists the events were unrelated.

Arthur Blank was among the few owners willing to testify about this slide deck. Blank doesn’t recall that the message was that the use of signing bonuses was inherently bad, and he also points out that this would contradict past presentations. He said he did talk to Falcons personnel about it; however, he is adamant that it did not affect the team’s ability to think for itself and that it’s up to each team to manage information gained from these meetings how they see fit.

There are many reasons—legitimate and illegitimate—why Atlanta would remove itself from the process, but without ever doing the work to come to that conclusion, they have been exposed to these allegations. After learning the reasoning behind this lack of action, what occurred behind closed doors is clear.

In 2024, Atlanta was willing to give Kirk Cousins $100M in guaranteed money over two years. In 2023, Jackson eventually agreed to a $135M guaranteed contract that spanned five years (total value of $260M). The Falcons bypassed cap flexibility by adding Michael Penix Jr. to the fold. That approach starkly contrasts with Blank’s description of Atlanta’s preferred model of operation.

Cousins was a far more risky investment than Lamar from an injury standpoint. Lamar did miss time in back-to-back Decembers, but the injuries weren’t catastrophic in nature, and he was in the prime of his youth (he still is).

The quarterback investments of 2024 put a financial squeeze on the organization. The team had to let players like Drew Dalman and Grady Jarrett walk while simultaneously reeling in Leonard Floyd and displaying him like a trophy fish.

Did the team learn a lesson from the Lamar situation? That seems unlikely. The team’s moves continue the franchise’s pattern of going all in on one thing and hoping everything else holds up long enough to squeeze into the playoffs, the playbook they’ve used for the past decade.

Theoretically, the Falcons could’ve done the work, put together a robust offer, and been rejected, but not without forcing the Ravens to match. Some wrote this process off as a waste of time and “doing the work” for Baltimore.

Is engaging in talks to sign a one-of-one athlete a waste of time? The only team that seemed to benefit from this lack of engagement was Baltimore, which got to negotiate with Jackson unchallenged and signed him to a deal that is now outside the top five in total guaranteed money, total value, and average annual value—a steal.

These comments also ignore that franchises are always competing against one another. The Ravens were in prime position to add Derrick Henry in 2024 and strike deals with Nnamdi Madubuike, Roquan Smith, and Ronnie Stanley. A few weeks ago, the team convinced Jaire Alexander to take a deal. Who knows what roster decisions or limitations the team would have faced if someone had forced them to pay a steeper price for Lamar Jackson?

This is the result of owners looking out for themselves, and unfortunately, Atlanta was a bad actor during this period. Short-sighted decisions have long-term ramifications.

The collusion ruling has given us some closure on a period many hope to soon forget. The Falcons are entering a new era with Michael Penix Jr., and the team’s focus is on what lies ahead.