Grady Jarrett’s first game back at Mercedes-Benz Stadium will come in different colors, but the bond with Atlanta is still intact.
The longtime Falcons defensive tackle, now with the Bears, hasn’t played in the building since 648 days ago. On Sunday, he’ll be on the other sideline wearing navy blue and orange, but his comments this week made clear that his connection to Atlanta hasn’t faded.
When he spoke with Falcons senior reporter Will McFadden earlier this week, Jarrett summed up his time in Atlanta in one word: "grateful". He spent 10 seasons with the Falcons, lived through the highs of a Super Bowl appearance and multiple playoff runs, and stayed with the franchise through the rough stretches too.
Jarrett also made it clear he still holds plenty of respect for the group he used to line up against every day. In a conversation with senior Falcons reporter Tori McElhaney, he said, "I highly, highly respect that group." He also pointed to the team’s steady improvement year by year and the respect he has for the organization.
There’s another layer to this return, though, and it centers on Gervon Dexter. Jarrett and Dexter are close, and that relationship has only deepened since Dexter was traded to Atlanta from Chicago.
Dexter entered the league as a Bears draft pick in 2023, coming out of Florida, with Falcons GM Ian Cunningham - then an assistant GM in Chicago - in the war room when he was selected. The second-round pick arrived with the look of a disruptive interior pass rusher, but injuries and poor run support slowed his progress. Once Cunningham became Atlanta’s GM, trade talk followed, though the deal didn’t happen until months later.
When the trade finally became official, one of the first messages on Dexter’s phone came from Jarrett. He told the younger lineman he’d be "in good hands" in Atlanta.
Jarrett has been open about how close they are, describing Dexter as a brother. He told Daniel Flick, "We were like brothers," and added, "For him to be able to go to a place like Atlanta, I knew he was in good hands. It did me good on both ends to know he's doing well and he's going to a place that's very special to me."
Jarrett was also among the first people to reach out when Dexter signed his four-year, $76 million contract extension a few weeks ago. He was one of the first to text, congratulate him, and lift him up as Atlanta locked down a young interior piece for the future.
That kind of impact is part of why Jarrett meant so much to the Falcons. Over his time in Atlanta, he produced 36 sacks and made two Pro Bowls. He also supported anti-bullying and youth sports causes in the city through multiple foundations, and he was a 2024 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee.
So Sunday is more than just a matchup. It’s a meeting point between what Atlanta had, what it has now, and what it believes is coming next on the interior defensive line.
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