Vic Beasley is under contract with the Falcons through 2019 since the club picked up his fifth-year option last year. However, Atlanta could cut Beasley before March 13 and clear his entire $12.81MM salary from the books, and given his underwhelming performance over the past two seasons, there has been speculation that the club will do exactly that.
But head coach Dan Quinn threw some cold water on those rumors, saying that the Falcons plan to keep Beasley in the fold. Quinn said (via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com), “I’m very excited about where I think [Beasley] can go to, and we’ve had good conversations about the impact that he can make. The biggest impact that he can make is doing it really consistently.”
Beasley, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2015 draft, had what appeared to be a breakout campaign in 2016, racking up a league-leading 15.5 sacks to go along with his only Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro selections. But he has regressed considerably since then, recording just five sacks in each of the past two seasons and grading out as a below-average edge defender per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics.
Beasley was actually Quinn’s first draft choice after Quinn became Atlanta’s head coach, and now that Quinn is set to take over defensive play-calling duties, he believes Beasley is due for a resurgence. Of course, Quinn would not comment on Beasley’s future with the club beyond 2019, and he acknowledged that Beasley would need to return to his earlier level of performance if he wants to land a long-term deal with the Falcons.
It stands to reason that the Falcons would be willing to give Beasley one more shot, as the team rebuffed trade offers for the Clemson product before the 2018 trade deadline.
Wouldn’t it be prudent to try and extend him on a cheaper deal?
Idk if this makes a lot of sense…