Julio Jones says his agent and the Falcons have started negotiations toward a new long-term contract, Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com writes. When asked for a timetable, however, Jones wasn’t able to put a date on it.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t talked to [the Falcons, personally]. My agent [Jimmy Sexton] and the Falcons obviously have been talking. I haven’t been talking. I talked to DQ [coach Dan Quinn] earlier. Me and him are on the same page. He just needs me to be the leader I am and to continue to keep working hard and take care of what I can take care of.”
While things appeared to get a little chippy between Demaryius Thomas and the Broncos and downright ugly between the Cowboys and Dez Bryant, Jones made it known that he would never be a training camp holdout. Of course, with one more year to go before Jones could be franchise tagged, he was in a much different position than either of those wide receivers.
Jones is coming off a franchise-record-setting 1,593 receiving yards last season on a career-high 104 receptions. At the moment, he is set to play the 2015 season on his fully guaranteed fifth-year option, worth $10.176MM. For what it’s worth, his 2014 numbers compare favorably to Thomas and Bryant. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked him right behind the duo, despite the fact that he played fewer snaps than either player.
Just last week, Luke Adams of PFR looked at Jones as an extension candidate.