A Lamar Jackson contract would not “ruin” the Falcons future

Some fans want to see former MVP Lamar Jackson play for the Atlanta Falcons and some are adamantly against it. Those who are adamantly against it point to the narrative that it would completely screw up the future of the Falcons and keep them from building a team around the talented quarterback.

While it would take up some money, things are being overly exaggerated. Signing Lamar to a big deal isn’t going to ruin the Falcons’ future—they will still be able to sign many players in the future.

Lamar Jackson isn’t going to keep the Atlanta Falcons from building a team

None of us know whether the Falcons are preparing to make a move to pry Lamar Jackson away from the Ravens. Right now, all we can do is speculate but one of the arguments against bringing him in has been completely blown out of proportion. Yes, Lamar will demand a giant contract and a lot of guaranteed money, but so have a lot of players in the past and many of those teams have turned out just fine.

I am not advocating for the team to bring in Lamar. In some ways, I would love to see it but there are numerous downsides—personally, I am on the fence.

Nevertheless, I have seen so many fans stating that bringing in Jackson would require the Falcons to screw up their future, this is simply untrue. Tell me how many quarterbacks have been signed to huge contracts and their team is still able to pull in big-name free agents in the following years?

Patrick Mahomes is a great place to start, he signed a contract that blew the doors off of the market. Now, it looks like a steal as there are four quarterbacks with an annual average worth more than him. The Chiefs have been able to bring in some quality free agents and will continue to be able to re-sign other players.

Each year the salary cap increases, which makes large contracts from the past become more manageable. So, while a contract might seem restricting when it is signed, it will become less impactful as the years pass.

Much of the impact of the contract comes down to structure. If the Falcons were to sign Lamar Jackson, they could frontload the contract to make the latter years less impactful to the salary cap and open up more flexibility in the future.

Saying that a contract to bring in Lamar would doom the Falcons for years is such an exaggeration. If he is brought in and the team wins then who cares what you are paying him? Even if they make him the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history, there will still be money left over each year.