Julio Jones is the most marquee player for the Atlanta Falcons and they intend to keep him around for many years to come. After trading up to acquire the former Alabama receiver, Jones immediately made his presence felt and has developed into one of the top players in the league. Now he is looking to get paid as such, but might be waiting another year to get his big money as Jones and the Falcons have not even begun discussing contract terms.
According to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com, the Falcons and Jones are not discussing contract terms as the wide receiver enters the final year of his rookie contract. General manager Thomas Dimitroff, team owner Arthur Blank and head coach Dan Quinn have all stated that they fully intend to re-sign Jones to a long-term contract, but the wide receiver market has yet to dictate what those exact numbers will be.
All eyes are on both Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas as the deadline to sign players under the franchise tag approaches on July 15. Both Bryant and Thomas were forced into a one-year tag as the Broncos and Cowboys failed to negotiate long-term deals. As a result, the only contract that could possibly be used to base other deals off of is the seven-year dear Calvin Johnson signed paying him $16.2 million annually. Teams have yet to decide if that is going to be the norm for receivers.
According to ESPN.com, Jones has no plans to follow in the footsteps of both Bryant and Thomas with a holdout. The receiver told the media that he trusts the contract terms will get taken care of at some point, but right now his focus is on winning football games so showing up to practice is critical to that effort.
"I'm not going to hold out for anything," Jones said, via ESPN.com. "My teammates need me. I'm being selfish if I'm not here and doing what I need to do."
The Falcons have notoriously waited until the final days of the offseason to get contracts complete so it would not be a shock if Jones does get a deal done before reporting to training camp. However, with Bryant and Thomas unsigned, it seems unlikely simply because the wide receiver will likely want to wait for the market to be set in order to base his deal off that. Matt Ryan signed his contract extension on July 25 while White followed on the same day, 24 hours before camp started.
Jones will remain with the Falcons. McClure reports that it is more of a "when" not "if" he signs his contract. AJ Green is in the same position with the Cincinnati Bengals as he enters the final year of his contract. The Falcons could opt to use the franchise tag next season if they still cannot get Jones signed. The expectation is that when Thomas and Bryant ink their deals, Jones and Green will follow with similar numbers.
