Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones will not be attending the team’s mandatory minicamp, GM Thomas Dimitroff announced in a statement on the team’s website.
The statement reads “We have been in contact with Julio and his representation. We will not discuss those conversations publicly except to say we feel they have been productive and constructive. We understand the concerns and thoughts from their perspective. Although not ideal, Julio informed us today he would not be attending mini-camp. We have much respect for him and what he means to our team, our city and our fans.”
As Mike Garafolo of NFL Network points out, Jones had said last month that there was “no story to be told” when asked about reports he was unhappy with his contract (Twitter link). Jones had skipped the voluntary portions of the Falcons’ offseason program, but by missing the mandatory minicamp, he’ll be subject to fines of up to $84K if he misses all three days. When he first missed OTAs Jones said “I’m not going anywhere”, and insinuated his contract wouldn’t be a problem. The team had previously told reporters they expected Jones to show up for minicamp.
A source told Josina Anderson of ESPN that “a contract proposal was sent” by Jones’ team and that the “response was not satisfactory” from the team, causing Jones to decide to skip minicamp (Twitter link). Jones is now officially holding out from his contract that runs through the 2020 season. Despite being locked up for several more years, Jones is holding out because his salary is well below market value. He signed a six-year deal back in 2015 with an average annual salary of only $13.5MM, far below what he would fetch today on the open market.
The Falcons have a long list of players angling for extensions, with Ricardo Allen, Grady Jarrett, and Jake Matthews all also wanting new deals. They recently committed a massive amount of money to Matt Ryan‘s mega-extension and will be running low on funds by the time they lock up everybody who needs a new deal. Aside from Ryan, Jones is by far the most important player on the team, and it would be surprising if the Falcons don’t do something to sweeten his deal and keep their star receiver happy.
Nothing says team player like Little crybaby throwing a fit
Dont have a problem with guys like Donald and Bell holding out because they have not had the opportunity to sign an extension yet. But Julio just seems wrong here. He signed the deal in 2015 and was entering his prime as an elite player. We all knew how good he was. He signed a team friendly deal on his own.
Was his contract team friendly 5 years ago? I have no problem with him asking for a raise but he shouldn’t be a crybaby about it and at the end of the day he should honor his word…..
Dude!
Because teams always honor their word and never demand that players restructure their contracts.
Oh, wait, they do that all the time. Every team, every off-season, at least one or two players. At least. And no one calls such-and-such GM a crybaby for demanding a pay cut from some veteran player. But if a player feels they deserve a raise as the market has changed, they’re called dishonorable babies.
He had an agent. He signed a contract. He should honor it.
Just like the teams always honor their contracts and never demand a player restructure their deal.
Right? Right?
Team MUST dig in here or expect every last player with multiple years left to hold out…..
My heart bleeds for the team.
This is why Pro Sports are no longer interesting. Crying over making $13.5million. What a cry baby
But others have more so I should have more! Wahhhh!
The owners are not the ones putting their bodies and minds on the line. They aren’t the ones looking at shortening their lives by maybe a decade by playing for your entertainment. And neither are you.
And next time any team demands that a player restructure their contract, I expect you both to be back here calling the GM or the owner a crybaby or a whiner.
FU both.
Wanting more in the middle of existing contract after he had how many tds last year? Yikes datz bold
Yeah, but did you see what free agents like Allen Robinson and Sammy Watkins were getting this year? The ground has shifted, and the NFL has no one to blame but themselves for the big bucks they’ve been shelling out this off-season to one-season wonders and the like.
Guy is incredible and still has some left in the tank. But how much left? And how much cap space is it worth?
Another player under a contract that doesn’t allow a team to reduce it if the player doesn’t perform screaming “Show me the money”.
What do you mean the team can’t reduce it? What’s special about Jones’ deal? More than a third of the contract wasn’t guaranteed, and teams usually aren’t shy about demanding cuts from players. Please explain.
Of course, asking for a pay cut from a guy who who just caught 88 passes for 1,444 yards, three TD’s or not, would be kind of insane.
Maybe if he would show up in the off season the Falcons might inclined to listen. He can always go year to year if he wants to be one of the highest paid. Yeah – like that is going to happen.
Yeah, I’m sure the team would want him to go year-to-year, too. They certainly wouldn’t want to lock in a player who routinely puts up 1,400+ yards per year. That’s real easy to replace.
Instead of arguing with strangers on the internet about an athletes contract, try boofing some speed with your dad & then taking each other to pound town