Arthur Blank higher on Justin Fields than Falcons staffers?

As the legal tampering period begins at noon, the Falcons will be a team to watch because Kirk Cousins still doesn’t have a deal with the Vikings.

The veteran signal caller seems to be Atlanta and Minnesota’s top quarterback target this offseason, and with Baker Mayfield off the market, these two clubs could get desperate, which benefits Cousins.

However, the Falcons owner may prefer someone else. Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post is reporting that Arthur Blank is higher on the Georgia native than many of his subordinates.

“Multiple rival executives suggested to me that Falcons owner Arthur Blank is higher on Fields, a former first-round pick, than many of his football staffers, and Atlanta is doing a lot of work on free agents Kirk Cousins and Russell Wilson, as well,” La Canfora writes. “I expect one of those three will land in Atlanta.”

This certainly wouldn’t be the first time Blank poked his beak into football operations. Many believe that the Falcons heavily pursued Deshaun Watson, who was battling more than two dozen sexual assault allegations at the time, at the behest of the team’s owner.

Watson was a ball boy for the Falcons when he was younger, grew up in Georgia, and has a relationship with Blank. Fields is a similar hometown hero that would put butts in seats on Sundays.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Blank loved Justin Fields more than the actual football ops staff because he has a history of letting his heart get in the way of things. He’s a great owner because he’ll give Terry Fontenot and Raheem Morris whatever resources are needed to win, but it’s a double-edged sword that sometimes cuts the Falcons.

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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire