FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – The Falcons have been fortunate to hit on a number of draft picks in recent years, and they are hoping to keep those homegrown players in the fold moving forward.
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It would seem defensive tackle Grady Jarrett is at the top of that list for Atlanta. The former fifth-round draft pick has emerged as a reliable and relentless defender in the middle of the Falcons' defensive line, and he's someone who the team is hoping to strike a long-term deal with this offseason.
"We would like to have Grady back for many years to come," Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said. "Not only on the field but what he does off the field for us, he's very important. That has been our focus. We put it aside for a little bit through the season, of course, so he could focus on what he needed to focus on. Now, we're back focusing on that as really our priority to see how this proceeds, and I'm confident with it."
In his fourth NFL season, Jarrett led the Falcons with eight tackles for a loss and 16 quarterback hits. He finished tied for second with six sacks and recorded 52 tackles in the 14 games he played.
Jarrett was one of the players the Falcons had said they would have liked to gotten signed to an extension heading into the 2018 season but an agreement could not be reached during the summer.
As the Falcons evaluate their roster and address areas of need in the coming months, they will have plenty of decisions to make as to who to keep and who to part from.
Here are all of the Falcons players whose contracts are set to expire:
- Zane Beadles, OG
- Justin Bethel, CB
- Bruce Carter, LB
- Tevin Coleman, RB
- Jon Condo, LS
- Ben Garland, OG
- Marvin Hall, WR (Exclusive restricted free agent)
- Justin Hardy, WR
- Bruce Irvin, DE
- Kemal Ishmael, SS
- Grady Jarrett, DT
- Andy Levitre, OG
- Terrell McClain, DT
- Steven Means, DE
- Logan Paulsen, TE
- Brian Poole, CB (Restricted free agent)
- Jordan Richards, SS
- Ty Sambrailo, OT
- Matt Schaub, QB
- Derrick Shelby, DE
- Blidi Wreh-Wilson, CB
