Not long after Marcus Mariota-to-Atlanta smoke emerged, the former No. 2 overall pick has agreed to reunite with Arthur Smith. Mariota agreed to a two-year Falcons deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that the two-year pact is worth $18.75MM. The Falcons have already announced the deal.
The Falcons traded Matt Ryan to the Colts earlier Monday, giving them a quarterback need for the first time since 2008. Mariota is certainly not a lock to be a long-term starter in Atlanta, but the former Tennessee draftee has experience with Smith and looks set to be Ryan’s immediate successor.
Smith was with the Titans throughout Mariota’s five-year Nashville tenure, but he coached the team’s tight ends for the bulk of Mariota’s run. During Smith’s first offensive coordinator season, he benched Mariota for Ryan Tannehill. The Titans then let Mariota join the Raiders in free agency in 2020. The former Heisman Trophy winner did not supplant Derek Carr in Las Vegas, but he has a clear path to being Atlanta’s starter next season.
A broken leg sustained on Christmas Eve 2016 altered Mariota’s Titans trajectory. The ex-Oregon phenom was coming off a season in which he threw 26 touchdown passes compared to just nine interceptions, while adding 349 rushing yards and two TDs. He did not reach 26 TD passes combined from 2017-18, as the Titans shifted to a more run-oriented attack. Mariota did guide Tennessee to the 2017 playoffs, where they upset the Chiefs after erasing a three-score deficit, but injuries in 2018 provided more hurdles. Elbow trouble led to Mariota missing time in 2018, and he was ineffective for the 2019 Titans, who surged to the playoffs behind Tannehill.
Mariota, 28, did not make any starts with the Raiders but did provide off-the-bench production as an injury replacement or a gadget running option behind Carr. Smith’s former pupil will give the Falcons a dual-threat option they did not have with Ryan. Of course, it remains to be seen how much Smith can coax from Mariota through the air.
So Carolina gets jimmy g & mayfield to Seattle I assume??
Sounds about right.
Jimmy G to Carolina?
Don’t think that’ll happen
I can see the niners keeping him for another year. Let him and Lance battle it out for the starting position again for another year.
No point in trading him for a 6th round pick and making another team better
yea, he’ll just be traded next season for probably more value, like… he can’t play worse? right??
Jimmy G is in the final year of his deal.
so they get nothing if they stick with him another year
..well , nothing besides a veteran QB capable of winning playoff games
still think Carolina should go all out on him. Darnold is trash
Can’t play worse, I mean they did make the playoffs and do alright
Could not agree more, unless Jimmy G becomes a salary/cap issue this year.
So Carolina get jimmy g & mayfield to Seattle I assume??
What a time to be a Falcons fan.
Just looking at the WRers on this team you have the amazing Frank Darby. A 6th round pick that has caught 1 pass for 14 yards in his career.
There’s also Chad Hanson, drafted in 2017 and has been on 8 teams in his career already.
Then lastly you have got Austin Trammell, undrafted out of Rice and who I believe is yet to play a snap in the NFL.
I hope Mariota has legs cause ain’t no way he’s throwing the ball this season
Repeatedly to Pitts in triple coverage I assume.
Teams wouldn’t even have to play with safety’s. Have two corners and just overload at line backer and on the edge
Matt Ryan has drawn an ace getting out of Atlanta to a contender, while Mariota has landed in hell. Poor guy. At least he’s well paid for getting hit.
Zaccheaus is the WR1 rn lol
At this point, if carolina doesnt trade for jimmy g then either the niners keep him this year as a backup or he gets traded to the texans for peanuts
Texans wouldn’t start jimmy over mills so don’t see them giving up any value at all for jimmy unless the 9ers would pay his contract. Jimmy Is worthless to the Texans
Everybody in the NFC south except Tampa are rebuilding but I actually think the falcons know what they are doing. They are going to build around Kyle Pitts on offense and AJ Terrell on defense
If I was Seattle I wouldn’t touch Mayfield. Go with Lock, load up this year’s draft with young talent and get top QB in 23 draft.
I can completely understand your tanking strategy, but I don’t know if a 70 year old Pete Carroll will view it the same. Rebuilds are long, and Pete coaches, what, five more years at the most?
Baker wins you games, and Lock is terrible. There’s speculation Baker goes for a 3rd or 4th round pick, which is a no-brainer, unless they are going to tank.
Atlanta clearly rebuilding, prob a year later than they should have. Moving on from Ryan was smart. Mariota will help them get a top 5 pick so they can grab a QB next year.
Jimmy g to Seattle. Baker to Carolina. But I think eagles need to trade for baker.
Baker and Hurts? The backup would be making more money than the starter.
Minshew is already there and better than both haha.
Yeah he is but nobody will give him a chance
Not sure SF deals him to a division rival unless they are beyond certain he’s complete garbage or won’t be physically ready next season.
If I’m Seattle I’d be extremely leery of a division rival who’s willing to trade what I thought was an above average qb.
Baker to bucs sit behind Brady for a year or two. Brady is close to retiring after this year or next imo. And who knows maybe Brady tries to get to another team again.
What abt Josh Rosen tho??
Asked no one ever.
Rosen = NVP in some spring league.
Remember now with the falcons trading Matt Ryan all that dead money is coming off the books next year with Ryan and Julio and the cap raising they are estimated to having 150 mil in cap space. They haven’t had this big of cap space since 2009