The Atlanta Falcons and star wide receiver Julio Jones have reached a deal for a long-term extension. Falcons owner Arthur Blank told The Athletic-Atlanta’s Jeff Schultz this morning that they were incredibly close to singing Jones to a long-term extension. That finally came through when he was signed for an NFL record extension worth $66 million over three years, including $64 million at signing according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.
Falcons, WR Julio Jones finalizing three-year extension worth roughly $66M, making him the league’s highest-paid WR. (via @TomPelissero + @RapSheet) pic.twitter.com/1TIQQMMB9g
— NFL (@NFL) September 7, 2019
There were signs that this was coming this morning when it was reported that the team restructured the contracts of Jake Matthews and Ricardo Allen to free up more cap space. Both had there base salaries converted into signing bonuses.
As a way of creating cap room, the #Falcons converted base salary to signing bonus on the contracts for Jake Matthews and Ricardo Allen, source says, adding they’re now “just barely into positive space.” Preparing for… pic.twitter.com/8BYQLGfFSS
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) September 4, 2019
The Falcons had said, at the beginning of the preseason, that getting Jones signed to a long term extension before the regular season started was their top priority. This past week Blank said that he was optimistic.
“I’m optimistic that we’ll get something done. There is no obstacle per se. When you are talking about a contract for that much money over that period of time for aWe just need to be thoughtful about it from our standpoint, as he does from his standpoint. He’s at a critical time in his career, and we respect that. We’re just going through a pretty normal process to get to where we need to be.”
Jones was looking to get the kind of extension that New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas received last month. Thomas received an average of $19.25 million in his five-year extension, with almost $61 million guaranteed. He received a $20 million signing bonus.
The Falcons were focused on preparing for the season even with the potential holdout of their number one receiver.
#Falcons coach Dan Quinn says he understands Julio Jones’ contract is a big topic outside the building. “There’s fantasy points out there. There’s a lot going on.” But says Julio has not let it become a distraction in the building.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 4, 2019
Jones, who is 30 years old, is on the verge of surpassing Roddy White as the Atlanta Falcons’ all-time leading receiver as he enters 2019 with 10,731 yards, 133 yards shy of surpassing White. Before this extension, he was in the fifth year of his six-year deal worth 81.42 million dollars.
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