Arthur Smith Talks Falcons Not Pursuing Lamar Jackson, Sticking with Desmond Ridder

Despite the availability of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, head coach Arthur Smith and the Atlanta Falcons are committed to developing 2022 third-round pick Desmond Ridder.

"He won a lot of games in college and helped Luke Fickell at Cincinnati really change the whole culture of that program," Smith said Friday on The Rich Eisen Show, (via Nick Shook of NFL.com.) "And I certainly think that experience, you start that many games, coming in helps. We certainly saw that early on as we threw everything we could at him. And he was impressive, and we felt that he was ready to take over at that time of the season, and I thought he did a nice job. Cool, collected under pressure."

Smith acknowledged Jackson's value, but said team needs take priority.

"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," Smith said.

The Falcons went 7-10 in 2022 but were notably only one game from winning the underwhelming NFC South. This combined with their pursuit of then-Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson last offseason made the team look like a potential bidder for Jackson, who requested a trade from Baltimore on March 2.

Ridder started four games in 2022, going 2-2 and throwing for 708 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions and an 86.4 passer rating. Ridder took over for Marcus Mariota, who had started the Falcons' first 13 games.

Mariota signed with the Eagles in March, so the quarterback depth chart for Atlanta consists of Ridder, the newly signed Taylor Heinicke and Logan Woodside.