Atlanta Falcons: Julio Jones situation not all that complicated
The situation regarding Julio Jones’ absence at Atlanta Falcons OTAs and his contract appears to be complex, but it really isn’t.
Julio Jones hasn’t been participating at Atlanta Falcons OTAs in recent weeks. Moreover, the wide receiver took a picture with rival Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. For good measure, the star also wants a new contract in Atlanta and had the whole deleting-Falcons-mentions-from-social-media episode as well.
When you read all of that, it stands to reason why people would start to say that something is up with Jones and his future with the Falcons. It would make sense if there was an ordeal of sorts behind closed doors causing all of this from the Pro Bowl wide receiver. However much sense it would make though, it’s all far from the truth.
Not only has the coaching staff not shown signs of concern about Jones, and not only has he told NFL.com that he wants to be a “Falcon for life”, but when you start to apply simple logic, what’s going on with Julio Jones and the Atlanta organization is quite simple.
The man wants to be paid what he’s worth.
Whenever discussions of the NFL’s best wide receivers come about, Jones is always in the conversation along with the likes of Antonio Brown. However, when you look at new wide receiver deals that have been signed recently, the caliber of player that Jones is doesn’t necessarily match up with what he’s being paid.
Per Spotrac, Jones is the eight-highest paid wide receiver in the NFL on a per-year basis, bringing in just over $14.25 million per year on average. That number puts him behind the likes of Jarvis Landry and Sammy Watkins — who both signed new deals this offseason — in addition to the likes of DeAndre Hopkins, Davante Adams and Mike Evans with Brown and A.J. Green also coming in above him.
No one can argue the merit of any of those players as they are all elite at what they do. However, on a purely human basis, it’s not difficult to ascertain why Jones would look at that and fancy himself underpaid. Based on what he means to the Falcons offense and his ability, he simply isn’t being paid what he’s worth based on the current market. Thus, he wants that to be remedied.
Now, this isn’t to say that how Jones has handled everything about this smoothly. The social media debacle was strange, and people always get up in arms over missing OTAs. But that doesn’t make any indication about his long-term plans in Atlanta or anything else.
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There is always the chance that, for whatever reason, the Falcons deem that they don’t want to pay him more. That’s when things could get dicey. As of now though, things are still being worked out an negotiated. And until anything on that front breaks, there should be no concern about the stud wideout.