Rich Eisen warns Falcons HC Arthur Smith on repercussions of picking Desmond Ridder over Lamar Jackson

As he enters his third season as coach of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Smith has received a warning about his team's quarterback situation.

The 2022 season marked a new era for the Falcons, as they played their first season with former MVP Matt Ryan, whom they traded to the Indianapolis Colts for a third-round pick. They initally leaned on free-agent signing Marcus Mariota before promoting Desmond Ridder for the final four games.

Last month, the Falcons were eying disgruntled Baltimore Raven Lamar Jackson, but talks ended without a deal. However, sports commentator Rich Eisen reckons ending the talks would have grave consequences. On his eponymous show, Eisen said:

"Arthur Smith has another opinion. And part of the opinion that he might have for Desmond Ridder is they liked him... So he absolutely 100% believes in Desmond Ridder. He's the coach of the Atlanta Falcons. And then they're in these meetings, and they talk all about how much things cost. That's the issue, how much Lamar costs.

"But if these teams do not win with the chips with the bets that they're making with their young kids. And Lamar goes somewhere else and wins a ton. Could you imagine what that's going to look like? Not good. That's the way you lose jobs."

In his first four starts with the Falcons, Ridder showed some promise, throwing two touchdowns against zero interceptions. However, he also suffered three fumbles, two of them lost. He's now expected to compete with ex-Commander Taylor Heinicke.

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Why are Atlanta Falcons not pursuing Lamar Jackson anymore?

Lamar Jackson might have relived the Michael Vick era in Atlanta.

The Atlanta Falcons had good reasons to pursue Jackson. First, they needed a major upgrade at quarterback after releasing Marus Mariota.

While Desmond Ridder may have been a favorite of owner Arthur Blank, he was not going to be a viable long-term solution. Second, acquiring Jackson would have been reminiscent of the days of former franchise leader Michael Vick, who greatly inspired Jackson's playing style.

However, both Blank and Smith recently ended the rumors, with the former telling the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that it was financially related:

“We just came out a period of time … last year we set a record for the most dead money in the history of the NFL. In my 21 years as an owner, we had close to the least amount of cap room than we’ve ever had before. This year, we had a healthy amount of cap room. Not very much dead money, a little bit, not much.

Blank emphasized the need to keep expenses (like contracts) manageable, something the Falcons might not have been able to do with a player like Jackson:

“Having compensation at 25% or so tied up in one player, we’ve lived through that. It definitely can put a lot of restraint on your ability to round out a roster and to have the depth on the roster, given 17 games and the nature of this game, it's still a contact sport ... we need to build a team.”

Smith expounded further in an interview with Rich Eisen, explaining the team's need to build a long-term team culture:

"With those transactions, where you're willing to spend in the salary cap, and there's great debates, certainly makes your shows more interesting, and that's great for the league, but at the end of the day, you've got to do what you think is best for your team and what you're building and how it fits into that puzzle."