Falcons Re-Signing Flurry of Players Before Julio Jones is Curious
By Scott Rogust
With the NFL world being at a relative standstill, the Atlanta Falcons have had an active week of transactions.
Prior to Monday's 4:00 p.m. ET franchise tag deadline, the Falcons agreed to terms with defensive tackle Grady Jarrett to a four-year, $68 million contract. On Wednesday, Atlanta reached an agreement with star linebacker Deion Jones on a four-year, $57 million contract extension.
While those are huge pieces for the Falcons to retain, all eyes will be on the biggest fish in the pond, and that's stud wide receiver Julio Jones, who's in search of a new deal. If Atlanta isn't able to reach an agreement, the flurry of moves they've made this offseason will mean nothing.
Here's the thing about Julio Jones, he's not set to become a free agent until 2021. Yet, Jones has been vocal in recent years about a new deal.
Currently, Jones is getting paid a total of over $21 million in salary. In terms of annual salary, Jones ranks 12th in the entire league, with Odell Beckham Jr. of the Cleveland Browns sitting at the top at $18 million per year.
Luckily for the Falcons and owner Arthur Blank, they have the trust of Jones, whom stressed to TMZ last week that he has no intentions of holding out of training camp. Blank promised to give Jones a brand new, lucrative deal, with the goal of making him a Falcon "for life."
The Atlanta Falcons defense suffered once Jones went down to injury last season, and wisely locked him up for an additional four years. While that's all well and good, Julio Jones is the lifeblood of the Falcons offense, and in order for them to reenter contention, the team needs to do whatever it takes to get a deal done this summer, before it's too late.