Grady Jarrett: a legendary Falcon
The former Clemson Tiger fifth-rounder was cut yesterday after a stellar 10 year run with the team
The Falcons said goodbye to a franchise legend yesterday, releasing Grady Jarrett, a former All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle who had spent his first 10 seasons in Atlanta.
Jarrett was a consummate pro throughout his tenure with the Falcons, starting 137 games of the 152 he suited and missed only 11 games in total since being drafted in the fifth round out of Clemson University. He leaves with 36.5 sacks, good for tenth most in franchise history, 77 tackles for loss, third most (according to Pro Football Reference) and the most QB hits of any Falcon.
In his second season Jarrett shined in the franchise’s second ever Super Bowl appearance, tying a Super Bowl record with a three sack performance against the New England Patriots. His dominant performance has become a forgotten footnote in history, overshadowed by the historical second half collapse and overtime loss.
Perhaps more importantly was his impact off the field. Jarrett was glue-guy in the locker room and twice the team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year that recognises a player for their excellence on and off the field. Jarrett’s foundation, Grady Gives, was his way of giving back to the community he grew up in and established a professional football career in.
Unfortunately for Garrett he was often overlooked by the likes of Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh and Fletcher Cox. Even on his own team that fielded legends like Matt Ryan and Julio Jones he didn’t garner enough attention.
The real crime was the failure to build a strong supporting cast on the defence around Jarrett. Pro Football Focus no team has had fewer sacks (298) than the Falcons since Jarrett entered the league in 2015. In fact, only Vic Beasley was the only Falcons to record a double digit sack season during that period when he miraculously led the league in QB takedowns in 2016. Beasley never had more than eight sacks in a season after 2016.
Despite the ineptitude of the Falcons’ front office to build a legitimate defence, Jarrett was still well respected across the league and appeared on the NFL’s Top 100 list three times, his highest ranking being #51 in 2021.
Just imagine how much worse the Falcons defence would have been over the past 10 years without him?
There is a strong argument to be made that he is one of the greatest defenders in Falcons history, behind only Claude Humphrey, Deion Sanders (who only played five seasons in Atlanta) and Jessie Tuggle. In my mind there’s no question he will one day be inducted into the Falcons Ring of Honor.
Undoubtedly there will be a huge void on the defensive line this coming season in Atlanta.
Jarrett signed a well deserved three-year $43.5m deal with the Chicago Bears and will try to spearhead an up-and-coming team led by former #1 overall pick Caleb Williams. One can only hope the Bears have the right plan in place to get Jarrett to the NFL’s mountaintop before he calls it a career.