Grady Jarrett, the former Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle, didn’t stay a free agent long—just a few hours before the Chicago Bears signed him.
The Falcons created buzz early in free agency by releasing Jarrett in a salary cap move.
Shortly after, Jarrett agreed to a three-year contract with the Bears, including 28.5 million guaranteed and a potential total value of 43.5 million.
The quick signing suggested Jarrett’s agent already had an understanding with the Bears while he and the Falcons discussed reducing his $20 million cap hit. When no deal was reached, the Bears announced his signing within hours.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris, speaking at the NFL Owners’ meetings in West Palm, Florida, acknowledged the team had been trying to work out an agreement with Jarrett.
“Especially when you’re talking about a guy that means so much to your team, your building, your state, everything about you,” Morris said on Jarrett’s importance to the Falcons.
“Everything about you. You were here when you drafted him,” Morris said referring to his first stint in Atlanta. “That was one of the tougher decisions that went on through the offseason. When you talk about how you make all of these things meet. We talked about how you fit it within the cap. What your structures are and how you want to have a person fit in, we just couldn’t come to an agreement.
“That’s what went into those things. All those decisions, all those things happen.
“And that was very tough.”
Morris avoided guessing whether Jarrett wanted to remain with Atlanta, the team that drafted him in 2015 after he played high school football at nearby Rockdale County High.
“I don’t want to speak for Grady, but it would be far fetched for me to sit here and say that Grady wanted to leave,” said Morris. “It’s one of those things that we couldn’t reach an agreement – a business deal. No hard feeling from myself or Grady.
“Definitely going to be missed. Definitely one of the guys I’ve got so much respect for. He’s a wonderful player to be around, wonderful guy to be around. I can’t say nothing but positive things about Grady, I really can’t.”
“It didn’t work out, and it’s unfortunate for us, ’cause we lost a great human.”
Jarrett spent a decade with the Falcons, quickly making an impact during the franchise’s most successful era. In recent years, he became a focal point for opposing offenses as one of the few standout players in Atlanta’s front seven, before a knee injury cut his 2023 season short.
Though his time with the Falcons ended abruptly, his place in the team’s Ring of Honor seems inevitable.
